Appeals Court: Pastor’s Lawsuit Can Move Forward After Viral Arrest While Watering Neighbor’s Flowers

A Black pastor’s federal lawsuit alleging his unlawful and retaliatory arrest by police while he was watering his neighbor’s flowers can move forward after an Alabama judge previously dismissed it, an appeals court ruled on Friday.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled in part that the officers in Childersburg “lacked even arguable probable cause” to arrest Pastor Michael Jennings, who was confronted while watering his neighbor’s flowers at the request of the neighbor, who was out of town.

As it turns out, someone found Jennings watering flowers to be suspicious enough to call 911, which dispatched the officers to the home. When Jennings refused to produce ID, the officers arrested and jailed him on the charge of obstructing government operations.

Watch the body camera footage below:

 

Naturally, Jennings quickly lawyered up and sued for the obvious violation of his civil rights, and more.

“What they did that day, they did with impunity, figured there would be no action taken against them,” Jennings told reporters while announcing the lawsuit at a press conference about three months after being arrested. “I felt dehumanized, I felt little. I felt helpless, and it hurt me.”

Nevertheless, earlier this year, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor dismissed the lawsuit in part because “Jennings did provide the officers with probable cause by refusing to give his full name,” The Daily Home, a local news outlet, reported.

More from the Daily Home:

In ordering Jennings’ suit dismissed, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor rejected the officer’s contention that Jennings was physically interfering with a government operation or intimidating the officers, but agreed that Jennings did provide the officers with probable cause by refusing to give his full name. The judge also points out that if Jennings had been arrested for not producing a driver’s license or other physical identification, the officers would not have had probable cause to arrest him. Based on the body cam footage, however, Proctor said this was clearly not the case. Alabama law does allow officers to require a person to give their name, address and reason for being where they are, and Jennings’ refusal to do so did obstruct their investigation into the 911 call.

The decision on Friday by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta undermined Judge Proctor’s premise for dismissing the lawsuit.

“Jennings was under no legal obligation to provide his ID,” the ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said in part. “Therefore, officers lacked probable cause for Jennings’ arrest for obstructing government operations because Jennings did not commit an independent unlawful act by refusing to give ID.”

The appeals court also ruled that the officers who arrested Jennings “lacked even arguable probable cause. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment on Jennings’ unlawful arrest claim because the officers are not entitled to qualified immunity.”

Read the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision by clicking here.

Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is part of Jennings’ legal team, called the decision “a win for justice.”

“The video speaks for itself,” Daniels said of the police bodycam footage. “These officers decided they were going to arrest Pastor Jennings without probable cause less than five minutes after they pulled up and then tried to rewrite history claiming he hadn’t identified himself when that was the first thing he did.”

Daniels noted: “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.”

Legal expenses have impacted Pastor Michael Jennings’ finances

Michael Jennings Jr. said a few months after the arrest that his father’s finances had been unstable ever since he closed his business 20 years ago and that he relied heavily on yard sales to make ends meet.

“He has about 15-20 members in his church, so the family is not rich by any means,” Michael Jennings Jr. told supporters at the time.

He said that bail money and other expensive fees needed to build the lawsuit against the police department had torn an even bigger hole into Pastor Jennings’ finances.

“It has affected his everyday life. His time and presence have been requested and required to fulfill the needs in building this case which has taken him from his source of income,” Jennings Jr. wrote in a post on the GoFundMe website soliciting donations, “This request from us is not one to make us rich by any means but for him to be able to continue to support his family and ministry.”

SEE ALSO:

GoFundMe Created For Black Pastor Who Was Arrested After Watering Neighbors Flowers

Black Pastor To Sue Alabama Cops Who Arrested Him In Viral Video For Watering Neighbor’s Flowers

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, A judge previously dismissed the lawsuit and blamed Michael Jennings for his own arrest.
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