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intended the commission of both aspects of § to reflect that Cooper pleaded guilty to the
924(c). This means that the government must superseding indictment.
show, at least, that the defendant had advance
knowledge of the presence of a firearm. U.S. v. Cooper, No. 19-50119, 5 th Cir., Nov. 09,
2020.
The record contains Cooper’s own admission that
he possessed the firearm: SEARCH & SEIZURE – QUALIFIED
IMMUNITY – CURTILAGE
[THE PROSECUTOR:] The defendant
admits and agrees that he possessed with intent to We WITHDRAW the prior opinion filed
distribute more than 50 grams of actual September 24, 2020 and substitute the following.
methamphetamine, and that he possessed a
firearm in furtherance of that offense. After Deputy Steven Williams approached,
THE COURT: Mr. Cooper, do you agree questioned, and “reached to grab” Sidney Arnold
with the factual summary as read by the just outside Arnold’s home, Arnold fled, fell off a
government’s attorney? fence, and dislocated his shoulder. Arnold sued
Williams pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, your Honor. violation of various constitutional rights and
. . . . THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Cooper, is there under Louisiana tort law. The district court
anything that you disagree with in that factual disposed of all claims either through Federal
summary that you would like to change, make Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal or
objections to? Rule 56 summary judgment. Because Arnold
THE DEFENDANT: No, your Honor. plausibly alleged an unreasonable search, we
THE COURT: All right. Does the factual REVERSE the dismissal of Arnold’s
summary accurately state what you did in this unreasonable-search claim under § 1983 and
case? REMAND for consideration of qualified
immunity on that claim. However, because
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, your Honor. Arnold either failed to state a claim or failed to
It is well settled in this Circuit that an admission raise a genuine dispute of material fact for his
during a plea colloquy can support a guilty plea. remaining claims, we AFFIRM the district court
See United States v. Chandler, 125 F.3d 892, 898 in all remaining respects.
(5th Cir. 1997) (determining that defendant’s (Ed. Note: This was Louisiana. The State
admissions supported conviction). The record Claims would also be summarily dismissed in
also contains circumstantial evidence supporting Texas for other legal reasons.)
Cooper’s advance knowledge, such as the
presence of the firearm in Cooper’s car and the Sidney Arnold and his brother lived in a garage
proximity of the gun to paraphernalia of drug apartment attached to a house while they worked
distribution. The district court did not plainly err for the homeowner.1 On March 18, 2017, Arnold
in accepting Cooper’s guilty plea. awoke around 2:00 AM to discover Deputy
Steven Williams, an officer of the East Baton
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the Rouge Parish Sherriff’s Office, just outside the
judgment of the district court but REMAND the garage apartment, standing under the carport.
case for correction of the judgment under Rule 36 Deputy Williams told Arnold that he saw an open
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