Obtained a per curiam decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

PATRICK FLANAGAN (Charlotte) and BRAD KLINE (Charlotte) obtained a per curiam decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the Western District of North Carolina Federal Court’s granting of Summary Judgment to a defendant municipality and police officer.  Plaintiff alleged that he was subjected to an unreasonable search and seizure and was deprived of his substantive and procedural due process rights, all in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  The complaint arose out of a traffic stop of a vehicle owned by the plaintiff and the subsequent search of the vehicle and arrest of the plaintiff for possession of a controlled substance.  The case was dismissed with prejudice after the defense successfully argued that probable cause existed for the arrest and that the plaintiff failed to meet the standard for federal constitutional claims against municipalities set by Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978).  Oral arguments were held before the Fourth Circuit, and the Court issued an Order in which it held that Plaintiff had failed to meet the standard required by Monell, and the decision of the lower court granting Summary Judgment had, therefore, been proper.