Corey Kendig v. Nicholas Stolar

── Corey Kendig v. Nicholas Stolar ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: April 28, 2026 Category: General PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 24-2260 ________________ COREY R. KENDIG, Appellant v. NICHOLAS STOLAR ________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (D. C. No. 1:21-cv-00326) District Judge: Honorable Cathy Bissoon ________________ Argued on June 24, 2025 Before: MONTGOMERY-REEVES, ROTH and AMBRO, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: April 28, 2026) Joel S. Sansone (Argued) Law Offices of Joel Sansone 603 Stanwix Street Two Gateway Center, Suite 1290 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Counsel for Appellant Michael J. Scarinci (Argued) Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania Strawberry Square 15th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17120 Counsel for Appellees ________________ OPINION ________________ ROTH, Circuit Judge. Corey Kendig was tried and acquitted by a jury for the shooting death of Jeremy Jones. Kendig sued Pennsylvania State Trooper Nicholas Stolar for arrest and imprisonment without probable cause, in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The District Court granted summary judgment to Stolar, finding that he was entitled to qualified immunity. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the District Court’s order. 2  I. On October 13, 2020, at around 1:30 a.m., Jeremy Jones and his friends spotted Corey Kendig leaving Partner’s Tavern, a strip club. One of Jones’ friends confronted Kendig about an alleged scam involving the sale of a used truck to his father, another punched Kendig in the face, and a physical altercation ensued. At some point in the altercation, when Kendig was on the ground in a chokehold, Kendig discharged his firearm, shooting Jones in the stomach. Jones died shortly thereafter. Kendig was taken into custody at the scene. After he was transported by ambulance to a medical center, he received treatment for “a closed head injury, and a severe injury to his right ear,” and then returned to the police barracks.1 Trooper Nicholas Stolar was appointed as lead investigator on the case. Later in the morning of Jones’ shooting, Stolar and other troopers interviewed several witnesses at the scene, conducted follow-up interviews at their residences or at the police barracks, viewed video footage of the incident, and filed several search warrant applications. At around 1:30 p.m. on October 13, Stolar filed charges against Kendig for criminal homicide,2 aggravated assault,3 and recklessly endangering another person.4 Kendig was tried in August 2021, and the jury found him not guilty on all counts. 1 Appx. 37 ¶¶ 15–19, 237 ¶ 18. 2 18 Pa. C.S. § 2501(a). 3 18 Pa. C.S. § 2702(a)(4). 4 18 Pa. C.S. § 2705. 3  II. On November 23, 2021, Kendig commenced this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Stolar and the Pennsylvania State Police in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. As relevant here, Kendig asserted claims for Fourth Amendment false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. Because facts supporting self- defense are not relevant to the probable cause determination, the District Court granted Stolar’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Kendig had failed to show that he was arrested, detained, and charged without probable cause, and that Stolar was entitled to qualified immunity. III. The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.5 We review de novo and may affi