Chutzpah Not Enough to Prove False Arrest

The Existence of Probable Cause Defeats False Arrest Suit

Post 4965

Video Defeats False Arrest Suit

Video footage is often useful because of its ability to provide an accurate depiction of events. Determining the underlying facts is made easier when the validity of the video is left unchallenged.

In Donna Cooper v. Chief Financial Officer Of Florida, Michael Warner, No. 23-13739, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (December 5, 2024) Ms. Cooper attempted to sue a police officer and the state of Florida for false arrest.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On November 17, 2015, Donna Cooper fell in the meat aisle at a Publix store. She completed a customer incident report before leaving the store, claiming to have slipped on "chicken juice" coming from underneath the meat coolers. Witnesses testified to seeing the chicken juice on the ground.

About four years later, perhaps hoping all evidence was destroyed, on November 8, 2019, Ms. Cooper filed a civil complaint against Publix for negligence, alleging that she suffered bodily injury, pain and suffering, and other economic and non-economic damages from her fall. When deposed, Ms. Cooper testified under oath that she did not notice the liquid on the floor prior to falling and did not wipe her foot through the liquid. On October 15, 2020, Ms. Cooper made a demand to settle the action for $500,000.00.

Ms. Cooper's fall was recorded by Publix's surveillance cameras. After reviewing the surveillance footage, Publlix's investigators concluded that Ms. Cooper "staged" her fall and "had prior knowledge of the liquid on the ground." It based this determination on the video showing Ms. Cooper suspiciously looking down at the floor, standing over a liquid, sliding her foot forwards and backwards through the liquid, looking around at other customers, and placing her right hand on the edge of the coolers before stepping forward, as if to brace herself for the fall she was staging.  The investigators submitted an Affidavit of Loss and Claim Presentation to the Florida Department of Financial Services with its findings and requesting that the Department's Bureau of Insurance conduct further investigation.

Detective Michael Warner was assigned the investigation and he arrested Ms. Cooper for these offenses without a warrant in May of 2021. A little over a month later, the state attorney dropped the charges by filing a "No Information." Ms. Cooper voluntarily dismissed her negligence action against Publix with prejudice on December 6, 2021.

Ms. Cooper then sued Jimmy Patronis, in his official capacity as Chief Financial Officer of Florida, asserting a state tort claim for false arrest. She also sued Detective Warner, in his individual capacity as an officer of the Florida Bureau of Insurance Fraud, asserting a claim for arresting her without probable cause.

The defendants moved for summary judgment, which was granted by the district court. The USDC reasoned that the facts shown in the surveillance video recorded the entirety of the episode and was not disputed by Ms. Cooper when combined with her subsequent actions and statements, sufficiently provided Detective Warner with probable cause to arrest Ms. Cooper.

ANALYSIS

Actual probable cause is an absolute bar to a false arrest claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Florida law. Under this standard, the arrest must be objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances.

The video captured Ms. Cooper such that any reasonably prudent person who watched Ms. Cooper's behavior in the video would conclude that there was probable cause to arrest her. Probable cause requires only a probability of criminal activity, not an actual showing of such activity. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with the district court that Detective Warner had probable cause to arrest Ms. Cooper based on the undisputed record evidence.

Whether Ms. Cooper actually saw the liquid prior to her fall is a question of fact but the Eleventh Circuit was only determining whether there was probable cause for her arrest.

Given the underlying facts Detective Warner had probable cause to arrest Ms. Cooper for communications fraud and theft and since probable cause completely bars a false arrest claim under both federal law and Florida law, the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

ZALMA OPINION

Ms. Cooper, after being proved a fraud in a civil suit dismissed that suit and, with unmitigated gall, sued the state and the detective who arrested her for false arrest even though she did not dispute the video showed that she faked the fall. Although the criminal action was dismissed by the state and she faced no jail or damages as a result of her fraud, with chutzpah she sued the state and the detective. Her case failed because of the Video Publix maintained that established that the detective had probable cause to arrest her and, therefore, her false arrest claim failed. This case teaches that public places like Publix, should have video surveillance and when an accident is recorded the video must be held and maintained until all statutes of limitations expire.

(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.

Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe

Go to X @bzalma; Go to Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg

Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk