Tinius v. Carroll County Sheriff Dept.

• Position: FALSE IMPRISONMENT/ARREST - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

FALSE IMPRISONMENT

Tinius v. Carroll County Sheriff Dept., 321 F.Supp.2d 1064 (N.D.Iowa 2004). A detainee filed a [section] 1983 action alleging that deputy sheriffs unlawfully detained him, and that medical procedures were performed on him without his consent. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in part, and denied it in part. The court held that the deputy sheriffs were justified in detaining the apparently intoxicated detainee under their community caretaking function, where a deputy came across the detainee walking along a rural roadway in winter without proper attire. According to the court, the law was not clearly established at the time of the incident that the Fourth Amendment barred law enforcement officials from seizing apparently intoxicated...