Page 97 - North Carolina 2020 Legal Guide

Task: Warrants and Liability

Messerschmidt v. Millender, 132 S.Ct. 1235 (2012).

• An officer who obtains a warrant has a high degree of protection

from liability with respect to any argument that the search was not

supported by probable cause.

• A person bringing a lawsuit against an officer where the officer has

sought a warrant has a high bar to get over in order to prevail

against the officer.

• It is only where the officer is plainly incompetent and where the

person bringing the lawsuit can establish that an objectively

reasonable officer would know that the affidavit did not set out the

necessary probable cause.

©2020 Jack Ryan Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute 96