Wrongful Arrest Plaintiff Gets Remand for Trial

Garcia v. Escalante, 2014 WL 464222 (2/6/14) (N.M.) (unpub'd) - Mr. Garcia submitted enough evidence to support his claim that his arrest was without probable cause in order to defeat the defendants' summary judgment motion where: when Mr. Garcia tried to enter a Bernalillo County state courthouse a deputy sheriff working security opened a vial and found hydrocodone pills; the plaintiff's mother left the courthouse and brought back a valid prescription for hydrocodone dated more than a year before the incident; nonetheless, an officer arrested Mr. Garcia for possessing a controlled substance without a prescription. Mr. Garcia did not have to submit to the court the actual prescription. It was enough that he testified during his deposition that his mother proffered such a prescription. It didn't matter that a prescription may not be filled more than six months after its date. Mr. Garcia was not trying to fill a prescription. He was under no obligation to use all the medications within 6 months of the prescription date. The Court remanded for trial.