Court Opinion

ID: 9817544
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 04:30:19.073125+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:52.985331
License: Public Domain

B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
Our prior order remanding to the district court because the issue of probable cause for impersonating an officer was not before the jury, was correct. Any evidence of other conduct by Alford was presented only in the context of whether he had the requisite intent under the Privacy Act. The instructions to the jury were in the context of violation of the Privacy Act. The jury was not asked to consider other possible crimes for which Alford could have been arrested.
The arguments of both counsel focused on the Privacy Act and witness-credibility. Neither suggested that the jury was to decide whether there was probable cause to arrest for impersonating a police officer. Granting the government’s Petition for Rehearing and affirming the acquittal is inconsistent with the testimony, the jury instructions, and counsels’ arguments all of which indicate that the jury was not presented with the theory that the officers may have probable cause to arrest for an offense other than Privacy Act violations. The remand to the district court, leaving those proceedings open on the issue of qualified immunity, is appropriate. We should deny the government’s Petition for Rehearing.