Officers Lacked Probable Cause to Arrest Plaintiff for "Disorderly Conduct"

Stearns v. Clarkson, 2010 WL 3191511 (8/13/10) (Kan) (Published) - The prosecutor and officers did not have a reasonable belief that probable cause existed to arrest the plaintiff for disorderly conduct for either of 2 instances: (1) the plaintiff, whose father had been killed by local law enforcement officers, knocked on the front door of an officer's home at 12:30 a.m. and when no one answered he left saying "later" ; (2) later, during a traffic stop, the plaintiff was loud, belligerent, smelled of alcohol and pointed a finger at an officer while using profanity. The plaintiff's words were not "fighting words," especially given they were addressed to a police officer, who is trained not to react violently. One officer was not liable because he only relied on another officer's assertion that there was probable cause. Officers were also not entitled to qualified immunity when they strip-searched the plaintiff after arresting him. They had no intention of placing him in general population and they had no reasonable suspicion, in light of the above incidents, to believe, after patting him down and finding nothing, that the plaintiff had a concealed weapon.