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DWAIN DAVID BARTON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
OFFICER MARTIN, et al.,
Defendants,
OFFICER DEAN VANN,
Defendant-Appellee. |
No. 18-1614 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 2:16-cv-13898—George Caram Steeh, III, District Judge.
Argued: May 8, 2019
Decided and Filed: February 7, 2020
Before: SILER, GIBBONS and DONALD, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Dwain Barton’s neighbor, Jill Porter, falsely
reported to police that Barton had shot a stray cat in his backyard in Lincoln Park, Michigan.
Shortly thereafter, police officers, without a warrant for entry or arrest, forcibly entered Barton’s
home and arrested him for animal cruelty. Barton was brought to the police station, booked, and
then released on a $500 cash bond three hours later. Barton subsequently sued the officers under
42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment for illegal entry into his home,
arrest and prosecution without probable cause, and excessive force, as well as First Amendment
retaliation. The district court granted summary judgment for Officer Dean Vann, one of the
officers at the scene. The court held that Vann was entitled to qualified immunity on the illegal
entry, wrongful arrest, and retaliatory arrest claim, and that Barton failed to raise a genuine issue
of material fact on the excessive force claim (presumably entitling Vann to judgment as a matter
of law). Barton challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Vann on
the illegal entry, wrongful arrest, and excessive force claims. We reverse. |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
PRABHU RAMAMOORTHY,
Defendant-Appellant. |
No. 19-1033 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 2:18-cr-20027-1—Terrence George Berg, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: February 7, 2020
Before: BATCHELDER, LARSEN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
LARSEN, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Prabhu Ramamoorthy of sexual abuse after a
woman sitting next to him on a flight woke up to find him either inserting or trying to insert his
fingers into her vagina. Ramamoorthy appeals his conviction, claiming (1) that his right to a
unanimous jury verdict was violated because his indictment was duplicitous, (2) that the
statements he made to airport police should have been suppressed because he was never
informed of his Miranda rights, and (3) that the statements he made to the FBI after arrest should
have been suppressed because he did not validly waive his Miranda rights. Because his claims
are meritless, we AFFIRM. |
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