Johnny Barnes v. Joseph Gerhart, et al.
FourthAmendment FifthAmendment Privacy
Did the Fifth Circuit wrongly hold that Officer Barnes' mistake was 'unreasonable' under the Fourth Amendment?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED In the summer of 2010, Officer Johnny Barnes participated in a joint drug-surveillance operation. A confidential informant was sent into the home of a white male who had been involved in three drug deals over the course of the preceding month. Inside the home, the confidential informant was ordered to use drugs at knife point. Officer Barnes attempted to save the confidential informant but mistakenly entered a home two houses away after a white male was observed running inside. (1) Did the Fifth Circuit wrongly hold that Officer Barnes’ mistake was “unreasonable” under the Fourth Amendment? (2) In the alternative, did the Fifth Circuit wrongly deny Officer Barnes qualified immunity? (3) At aminimum, should this case be GVR’d in light of Sause v. Bauer, 188 S.Ct. 2561 (June 28, 2018), Kisela v. Hughes, 138 S.Ct. 1148 (Apr. 2, 2018), and District of Columbia v. Wesby, 138 S.Ct. 577 (Jan. 22, 2018).