Federal court dismisses lawsuit alleging illegal search and seizure

Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·2 min read

Mar. 10—ANDERSON — A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging unlawful search and seizure.

The lawsuit was filed by Alice Flowers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana maintaining her Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Madison County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Bell.

The Court ruled Wednesday granting Bell's motion for summary judgement and denied Flowers' motion for summary judgement.

Bell thought he had a valid warrant to take the phone, which was believed to have video evidence of crimes committed by Flowers' son during an encounter with police, but in fact Bell's warrant was unsigned," Justice James Sweeny II wrote.

In the lawsuit, Flowers alleges that on Feb. 25, 2021, deputies Brian Bell, Derek Saylor, Juan Galan, Justin Weber and Patrick Hosier pursued her and her son Jacob by placing a sheriff deputy at two locations she owns in Anderson.

The court ruling states Flowers was stopped for having her license plate obscured. A few minutes later Bell arrived, presented the warrant and took the phone.

Obscured plates is a violation of Indiana law and the initial traffic stop was legal," the ruling states.

"The next day, Bell learned the warrant was invalid, and instead of seeking to remedy the defective warrant, sought to return the phone," Judge Sweeney wrote. "Flowers phone was returned to her, unsearched, four days later."

Judge Sweeney said the seizure of the phone was legal.

"Bell was on a public street responding to a lawful traffic stop, the phone was in plain view and it was immediately apparent to Bell that the phone was the same phone he swore was likely to contain video evidence of crimes committed by Flowers' son. Bell needed nothing more to take the phone.

"Because Bell's actions were constitutional even without a warrant, the Court need not address his arguments regarding good-faith mistake and qualified immunity," the order continued. "Bell is entitled to summary judgment on the undisputed facts."

Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger confirmed Thursday that Bell was suspended for two days for violation of departmental policy following the 2021 incident.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.