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Houston Cops Stripped of Immunity in Good Samaritan Arrest

Houston Cops Stripped of Immunity in Good Samaritan Arrest

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The 5th Circuit denied qualified immunity to Houston officers who arrested a Good Samaritan. The officers’ actions were questioned and charges against the Good Samaritan were dismissed.


Houston Cops Stripped of Immunity in Good Samaritan Arrest

On May 3, 2024, the 5th Circuit issued an opinion 22-20621 before Jolly, Engelhardt, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. In the opinion, Circuit Judge Andrew S. Oldham addressed a remarkable case involving the invocation of qualified immunity under what can be described as absurd circumstances.

The case revolved around Austin Thompson Hughes, a Good Samaritan who demonstrated exceptional civic responsibility. In the early hours of the morning, Hughes called 911 to report a pickup truck swerving violently across a four-lane highway in Houston. While on the phone with emergency dispatchers, the drunk driver crashed. Displaying commendable courage and quick thinking, Hughes pulled behind the drunk driver and effectuated a citizen’s arrest in accordance with Texas law.

However, to the astonishment of many, when police officers arrived at the scene, they released the drunk driver and instead arrested Hughes, the Good Samaritan. Subsequently, the officers went further by charging Hughes with a felony for impersonating a peace officer. Hughes endured significant financial burden defending himself against these baseless criminal charges, which were ultimately dropped by the City of Houston. Following these events, Hughes initiated a § 1983 suit against the two officers involved.

In a decision that reflects the incredulity of the circumstances, the district court denied qualified immunity, a ruling which the 5th Circuit affirmed. The court’s opinion serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities and nuances involved in the invocation of qualified immunity, touching on issues of justice and the protection of individuals who act out of genuine concern for public welfare.

Good Samaritan Calls in Houston DWI

The case at hand involves a motion to dismiss, so the facts presented are taken as true. On March 23, 2019, at around 2:37 a.m., Austin Thompson Hughes, a former police officer driving for Uber, noticed a white GMC Sierra pickup truck swerving erratically on Interstate 610 in Houston. Hughes, suspecting the driver to be intoxicated, immediately dialed 911 and began following the Sierra with his Jeep’s flashers on. During the call, Hughes described the situation, and his two Uber passengers confirmed his observations.

When the 911 call was transferred to a Houston Medical 911 call-taker, Hughes continued to report the events and expressed the need to remove the driver from the car to prevent a potential accident. After stopping behind the Sierra, Hughes exited his vehicle, confirmed the driver’s intoxication, and took necessary items from the driver’s car. Another 911 caller corroborated these actions and reported Hughes’ attempt to remove the drunk driver from the car.

As the intoxicated driver attempted to flee into traffic, Hughes, believing it to be the safest option, used handcuffs from his Jeep to temporarily detain the driver. When police officers Michael Garcia and Joshua Few arrived at the scene, they re-handcuffed the drunk driver and asked Hughes to meet them at a nearby gas station for his statement. At the gas station, Officer Garcia interviewed the drunk driver, while Officer Few interviewed Hughes. Hughes recounted the events and mentioned that he used to be a police officer.

Later, the officers inexplicably did not arrest the drunk driver and instead prepared an incident report based on the drunk driver’s false statement, which falsely accused Hughes of impersonating an officer. The report, despite its inconsistencies and the evidence supporting Hughes’s actions, did not address the incident as a DWI investigation but rather as an offense for “Impersonating an Officer” and identified Hughes as the suspect.

The report’s misinterpretations and disregard for the corroborating evidence highlighted the mishandling of the situation and further complicated the case.

Good Samaritan Arrested for Detaining Houston DWI Suspect

The case of Austin Thompson Hughes took an even more alarming turn when, two days later, Garcia signed a probable cause affidavit based on the incident report. This affidavit included details gathered by both Garcia and Few during their investigation, but it omitted critical information and provided a different version of the events, as per Hughes’s complaint.

The new details presented in the affidavit contradicted Hughes’s statement and omitted crucial facts that questioned the reliability of the drunk driver’s account. It also failed to mention the officers’ sole basis for believing Hughes committed a felony – the drunk driver’s statement – which came from a man who performed poorly in an intoxication test. Furthermore, the affidavit omitted corroborating evidence supporting Hughes’s account of the incident, such as the third-party 911 call and screenshots from his Uber app.

Despite these misstatements, omissions, and inconsistencies, Garcia submitted the probable cause affidavit to the District Attorney’s office. This led to Hughes being charged with felony impersonation of a public servant, and a warrant was issued for his arrest by the 262nd Criminal District Court of Harris County.

In a perplexing turn of events, Officers Few and Garcia arrived at Hughes’s home around 3:00 a.m. to arrest him. This unusual timing raised questions, and Hughes, who was asleep with his wife at the time, was unexpectedly taken into custody. The manner in which the arrest was conducted, including the officers’ request to see Hughes’s cell phone and the subsequent forcible arrest, raised further concerns about the handling of the situation.

After being placed in the jail’s general population for over 24 hours, Hughes was released before the criminal action against him was eventually dismissed on the basis that ‘no probable cause existed to believe the defendant committed the crime.’ This turn of events painted a disconcerting picture of the treatment Hughes received in the legal process.

5th Circuit Questions the City of Houston’s Defense of the Officers Actions

The 5th Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to deny qualified immunity to the officers involved in a remarkable case. The opinion emphasized the astonishing nature of the officers’ actions: their refusal to charge a severely intoxicated driver while bringing felony charges against the Good Samaritan who intervened to protect the public. Additionally, it expressed disbelief at the City of Houston’s defense of its officers’ conduct. Ultimately, the 5th Circuit denied the officers’ qualified immunity, and affirmed the district court’s decision.

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Additionally, while every effort is made to ensure the reliability of the information, the publication does not warrant the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the content. Readers are encouraged to verify any legal information with official sources and to use their discretion when interpreting and applying the information provided.

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