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CA5: Officer who organized raid and did not read the search warrant was liable, too

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Deputy sheriff who did not enter during raid was still liable because he organized the raid and did not read the warrant. Hunt v. Tomplait, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 24813 (5th Cir. December 8, 2008)* (unpublished): Deputy Tomplait was not a mere bystander in the execution of the search warrant. He actively led the search team at Chief Hunter's request to the only "Hunt residence" that he was aware of, without reading the search warrant or pursuing additional information about the residence described in the search warrant. The fact that Deputy Tomplait did not enter the house does not relieve him of liability as a matter of law; his identification of the Hunt residence as the residence to be searched--and subsequent leadership of the search team to the residence--was a direct cause of the Fourth Amendment violation...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 13, 2008 (boomark / email).