Ex-Dallas County sheriff gets immunity in 2019 courthouse break-in arrest lawsuit

A former Dallas County sheriff can't be sued in federal court for arresting two contractors who broke into the county courthouse as part of a security test, a judge has ruled.

Justin Wynn and Gary DeMercurio were arrested Sept. 11, 2019, after breaking into the Dallas County Courthouse. They were employees of Colorado-based Coalfire Labs, a security firm contracted by state judicial officials to analyze security at Iowa court facilities.

When officers showed up to investigate the break-in, the two men showed them authorization letters from the Iowa judicial branch. Judicial officials also confirmed via phone that the state had hired the men.

That didn't satisfy then-Sheriff Chad Leonard, and he ordered them arrested for possession of burglary tools.

The charges were later dropped, and judicial officials apologized and faced legislative scrutiny for how they had conducted the security test.

DeMercurio and Wynn sued Leonard and Dallas County in 2021, and in 2022 added claims against the state for the actions of judicial officials, although a judge later dismissed the state from the case. In June, it was moved to federal court, where Leonard and the county argued that claims against them for violating the U.S. Constitution should also be dismissed.

On Wednesday, a federal judge agreed.

Sheriff's actions 'troubling' but immune from suit, judge finds

In his ruling, District Judge Stephen Locher voiced reservations about Leonard's decision to order the two men arrested.

"According to plaintiffs, Leonard’s decision to have them arrested was the result of his frustration with having his authority challenged during the phone call rather than any sort of good faith belief that plaintiffs had committed a crime," Locher wrote. "These allegations are plausible and, if true, troubling, as they would mean plaintiffs were arrested for being in a place they were authorized to be simply because of a 'turf war' between the Iowa Judicial Branch and Dallas County Sheriff."

Even so, Locher said, the county and sheriff are entitled to dismissal of the constitutional claims against them. That's because of qualified immunity, a judicial doctrine holding that government officials cannot be held liable for unconstitutional conduct unless the illegality of their actions had been "clearly established" at the time by prior caselaw.

There's no such precedent governing the "unique circumstances" of this case, Locher wrote.

"The situation here layers two unusual sets of facts on top of one another, the first involving the surreptitious break-in at midnight and the second involving a jurisdictional dispute over who has the right to authorize entry to a county courthouse," Locher wrote. "Plaintiffs cannot as a matter of law prove they had a 'clearly established' constitutional right not to be arrested in these circumstances."

After federal detour, remaining claims return to state court

The plaintiffs' original complaint brought both common-law claims — negligence, false arrest and defamation, among others — as well as claims for violations of the Iowa Constitution.

In May, though, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs can't bring damages claims under the Iowa Constitution unless specifically authorized by statute. In the wake of that ruling, which resulted in the dismissal of a number of cases, DeMercurio and Wynn filed a revised complaint instead alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution. Dallas County then had the case moved to federal court, where Locher on Wednesday dismissed the claims.

That doesn't mean the case is over. Locher declined to rule on the remaining common-law claims, meaning the case will return to state court for further litigation. Asked to comment on the ruling, Marty Diaz, the plaintiffs' attorney, said only: "Back to state court we go."

Attorney Jason Palmer, representing the ex-sheriff and Dallas County, applauded the ruling.

"We are pleased the federal court recognized that it was appropriate for Dallas County and former Sheriff Leonard to arrest the plaintiffs at the scene," Palmer said in an email, despite Locher's description of Leonard's actions as "troubling."

"We continue to believe the remainder of the case is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending it," Palmer said.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa sheriff gets qualified immunity for arresting security testers