Emma Jane Prospero v. Deputy Ryan Sullivan, et al.

Brunswick, Georgia pro se Plaintiff representing herself without a lawyer on a civil rights claims.



Emma Jane Prospero has, by her own account, called 911 "a

gazillion times.” Among the issues she complained about,

Prospero often called to report gunshots coming from behind a gas

station near her home that the Camden County Sheriff's Office

("the Sheriff's Office”) repeatedly investigated and concluded were

lawful. Thanksgiving 2018 was no different. That day, Prospero

and her husband called Camden County's non-emergency phone

number twice, then 911 once, to report gunshots. She did so

despite dispatchers telling her that deputies would not respond to

her calls because the deputies had concluded the gunfire was legal.

After her calls, defendant Deputy Ryan Sullivan and his supervisor,

defendant Lieutenant Russell Prescott (collectively "defendants”),

swore out an arrest-warrant affidavit and had Prospero arrested for

violating O.C.G.A. § 16-11-39.2(b)(2), which prohibits disruptive or

harassing conduct during 911 calls.



Prospero then brought this lawsuit after the Camden

County District Attorney's Office dismissed the charge against her.

Prospero's operative complaint alleged, in relevant part,2 a

deprivation of her First Amendment rights, unlawful seizure or

arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and malicious

prosecution in violation of the Fourth Amendment, all against

Deputy Sullivan and Lieutenant Prescott.

Motion for summary judgment denied.



Reversed