Davis v. Warren

── Davis v. Warren ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: April 21, 2026 Category: Prisoner w/ Counsel Case: 24-40599 Document: 132-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 21, 2026 No. 24-40599 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Daryl L. Davis, Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Don Warren, Mayor; Shirley McKellar, Council Member; Deborah Pullum, City Attorney; Jimmy Toler, Police Chief, City of Tyler; James Goodman, Police Officer; Timothy Hutson, Police Officer; Garrett Martin, Police Officer; Blake Kelly, Police Officer; Kris Davis, Detective; Larry Smith, Sheriff; Neal Franklin, County Judge; Jacob Putman, District Attorney; Ralph Caraway, Sr., Commissioner Precinct 4; JoAnn Hampton, Former Commissioner Precinct 4; E. B. Johnson, Police Supervisor; J. Rackliff, Police Supervisor, Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 6:24-CV-207 ______________________________ Case: 24-40599 Document: 132-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Before Elrod, Chief Judge, and Willett and Wilson, Circuit Judges. Don R. Willett, Circuit Judge: This case arises from a traffic stop gone awry. Tyler Police Department officers pulled over Daryl Davis in February 2019 as part of a planned drug sting. During the stop, the officers accused Davis of destroying evidence by swallowing an unknown quantity of crack cocaine. They arrested Davis for tampering with evidence and interfering with public duties. Davis tells a different story. He contends that the officers violated his constitutional rights during and after the stop. On his telling, the arresting officers used excessive force and unlawfully detained him based on a false claim that he destroyed evidence. He further alleges that the officers refused to order a drug test that would have disproven the accusation that he swallowed drugs. In Davis’s view, the constitutional violations continued after his arrest: prosecutors maliciously charged him with a crime he did not commit, and he was subjected to unlawful post-indictment searches and seizures. Davis reported his complaints to city and county officials, but he maintains that they “turned a blind eye” to the misconduct in hopes of concealing a broader pattern of unconstitutional policing. Based on those allegations, Davis—proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis—sued Smith County and Tyler city officials in June 2024 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for $75 million.1 The district court dismissed Davis’s _____________________ 1 The County Defendants are Sheriff Larry Smith; Judge Neal Franklin; District Attorney Jacob Putman; Commissioner Ralph Caraway, Sr.; and former Commissioner JoAnn Hampton. The City Defendants are Mayor Don Warren; City Councilmember Shirley McKellar; City Attorney Deborah Pullum; Police Chief Jimmy Toler; police officers James Goodman, Timothy Hutson, Garrett Martin, Blake Kelly, and Kris Davis; and police supervisors E.B. Johnson and J. Rackliff. Case: 24-40599 Document: 132-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 No. 24-40599 complaint for failure to state a claim. We AFFIRM in part, VACATE in part, and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion. I.