Genoa Jones and Cornell Tinsley v. City of North Las Vegas, et al.

Las Vegas, Nevada, personal injury lawyers represented the Plaintiff who sued on civil rights violation theories.



A police officer saw a suspect flee from the back of a

house into a neighboring backyard. Instead of directly

following the suspect, the officer hurried to his car, called

for backup, and drove two blocks south to establish a

perimeter around the area. At least eighteen minutes passed

before a K-9 unit alerted in the direction of Plaintiffs'

backyard, several houses away from where the suspect had

disappeared. An officer with a K-9 searched the yard,

rousing Plaintiffs' three dogs. Two of the dogs attacked the

police K-9 and were shot and killed by an officer.



Plaintiffs Genoa Jones and Cornell Tinsley sued under

42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming the officers and the City of North

Las Vegas violated their Fourth Amendment right to be free

from unwarranted searches and seizures.



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Qualified immunity protects government officials from

liability under § 1983 "unless (1) they violated a federal

statutory or constitutional right, and (2) the unlawfulness of

their conduct was clearly established at the time.” Waid v.

County of Lyon, 87 F.4th 383, 387 (9th Cir. 2023) (quoting

District of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 62–63 (2018)).

"Either prong can be adjudicated on appeal by taking the

facts as most favorable to the plaintiffs and applying the

pertinent legal standards to those facts.” Isayeva v.

Sacramento Sheriff's Dep't, 872 F.3d 938, 945 (9th Cir.

2017). Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity where

we find "a negative answer at either step.” Sabbe v. Wash.

Cnty. Bd. of Comm'rs, 84 F.4th 807, 819 (9th Cir. 2023).

The district court granted summary judgment for the officers, reasoning that

the officers’ intrusion was permitted by the hot pursuit

exception to the warrant requirement and that the use of

force was reasonable under the circumstances. The district

court also granted summary judgment for the city, finding no

support for Plaintiffs’ failure-to-train theory.



Reverse, in part, holding that there is no hot pursuit

where officers lose track of a suspect for eighteen minutes.

Affirmed with respect to the K-9 handler’s use of force and

the claims against the city. Remanded for further

proceedings.