Unlawful Arrest

Terry Sides successfully defended an Alabama city in a lawsuit in federal and state court in which the plaintiff claimed that her federal and state constitutional rights were violated by some of the city's police officers because of her arrest for domestic violence. The officers responded to a call from the plaintiff that she had been assaulted by her husband, but the officers' investigation on the scene (including interviews of eyewitnesses) revealed that it was the plaintiff, not her husband, who was the abuser. When the officers advised the plaintiff she was under arrest, she became combative, refused to follow the officers' commands, and physically resisted her arrest. The federal court ruled the plaintiff failed to state a federal claim for relief against the city, and the state court subsequently ruled that the plaintiff likewise had no claim against the city under Alabama law. The lawsuit was dismissed.