Filed: Apr. 17, 2000
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: No. 99-30615 -1- IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 99-30615 Summary Calendar JAMES SHEPACH, RICHARD MUNGIA, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus IGNACE TANNER ET AL., Defendants, JOSEPH HEBERT; ALAN JEFFERSON; CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, Defendants-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 96-CV-2405-E - April 17, 2000 Before JOLLY, JONES and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Plaintiffs, Richard Mungia (Mungia)
Summary: No. 99-30615 -1- IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 99-30615 Summary Calendar JAMES SHEPACH, RICHARD MUNGIA, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus IGNACE TANNER ET AL., Defendants, JOSEPH HEBERT; ALAN JEFFERSON; CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, Defendants-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 96-CV-2405-E - April 17, 2000 Before JOLLY, JONES and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Plaintiffs, Richard Mungia (Mungia) a..
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No. 99-30615
-1-
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 99-30615
Summary Calendar
JAMES SHEPACH, RICHARD MUNGIA,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
versus
IGNACE TANNER ET AL.,
Defendants,
JOSEPH HEBERT; ALAN JEFFERSON; CITY OF NEW ORLEANS,
Defendants-Appellees.
--------------------
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana
USDC No. 96-CV-2405-E
--------------------
April 17, 2000
Before JOLLY, JONES and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Plaintiffs, Richard Mungia (Mungia) and James Shepach
(Shepach), appeal the district court's entry of summary judgment in
favor of defendants, Joseph Hebert (Hebert), Alan Jefferson
(Jefferson), and the City of New Orleans, in their suit under 42
U.S.C. ยงยง 1983 and 1988, La. Civ. Code Ann. art. 2315 (West 1999),
and U.S. Const. amends. IV, XIV. Plaintiffs argue that Hebert
withheld and misrepresented substantial evidence in his arrest-
warrant affidavits and that if the district court had viewed the
facts in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, it would have
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
No. 99-30615
-2-
concluded that Hebert's actions in obtaining the warrants were not
objectively reasonable. Plaintiffs additionally argue that the
district court's granting of summary judgment as to Jefferson was
improper and that the district court's consideration of
unauthenticated documents in support of defendants' summary-
judgment motion is reversible error. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).
This court reviews a grant of summary judgment de novo.
Thomas v. LTV Corp.,
39 F.3d 611, 616 (5th Cir. 1994). We have
reviewed the record, the district court's opinion, and the parties'
briefs, and we conclude that summary judgment was proper as to all
defendants. Plaintiffs did not offer any facts to suggest that
Hebert was objectively unreasonable in his decision to seek
warrants for Mungia or Shepach or that any misstatements or
omissions by Hebert in his affidavits were intentional, reckless,
or objectively unreasonable such that an otherwise reasonable
officer would not have submitted them to a magistrate. Spann v.
Rainey,
987 F.2d 1110 (5th Cir. 1993); Sanders v. English,
950 F.2d
1152 (5th Cir. 1992); Hale v. Fish,
899 F.2d 390 (5th Cir. 1990).
Based upon substantially the same reasons stated by the district
court, we also conclude that summary judgment was proper as to
Jefferson.
Finally, plaintiffs did not object to the authenticity of
the documents presented by defendants, i.e., that the documents are
not what they purport to be. Rather, plaintiffs objected to the
fact that these documents were not properly authenticated as
required by Rule 56(c). We conclude this is harmless error. Equia
v. Tompkins
756 F.2d 1130, 1136 (5th Cir. 1985).
No. 99-30615
-3-
AFFIRMED.