Page 39 - TPA Journal January - February 2019

Joe C. Tooley, Legal Digest Editor
Joe C. Tooley, Attorneys & Counselors, Rockwall, Texas
www.TooleyLaw.com 972-722-1058

TEXAS POLICE ASSOCIATION

LEGAL DIGEST

January/February 2019

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It is the goal of this submission to extract those portions of relevant appellate
opinions or the syllabus of the legal reporter which bear directly upon law enforcement methods
and provide guidance for officers on an operational level. Much of the information pertaining to
these cases is lifted verbatim from the court opinion or syllabus with independent analysis inserted
as appropriate. Due to clarity for training purposes, the distinction between quotes from the
opinions and inserted analysis is not always identified and legal citations within the opinion are
often omitted. Emphasis is placed upon reported decisions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

USE OF FORCE – CIVIL – QUALIFIED neighborhood, finding Gregory Samples standing
IMMUNITY. in the middle of the road, stripped to his boxers
and speaking to another person; both this
Today we review a denial of a law officer’s unnamed person and the one who led McGregor to
motion for summary judgment on the basis of Samples left upon McGregor’s arrival on the
qualified immunity on a claim of excessive force scene. McGregor arrived at approximately 4:05
in a tasing. We reverse the denial of summary a.m.
judgment to the law officer and render judgment
to him. The temperature was in the low 30s, and Samples
had his arms wrapped around himself for warmth,
On January 29, 2014, Deputy Frederick
visibly shivering. Samples was 50 years old and
McGregor, a member of the Harris County
only stood at 5’3” and weighed approximately 154
Sheriff’s Office, received a terse message from his
pounds, with bruises on his feet and knees. He was
dispatcher while on patrol: to report to a given
carrying his own dentures in his hand. When
location to track down “a white male calling for
McGregor approached to speak with him, Samples
help.” McGregor hurried to the location—a gated
would wander off. McGregor quickly came to
community—and as he drove into it, a man
believe that Samples was intoxicated. Samples
quickly waved him over, reporting that someone
expressed a desire to call his sister, but while
was wandering through the neighborhood half-
McGregor repeatedly tried to coax him into the
naked, and that whoever it was had left his wallet
warmth and safety of his patrol car, Samples
and clothing in the middle of the roadway. The
walked away from him. After several minutes, at
man guided McGregor deeper into the
roughly 4:08 a.m., Deputy Jeffrey Vadzemnieks
Jan./Feb. 2019 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • 866-997-8282 35