On December 3, 2018, a U.S. citizen detainee filed this lawsuit under § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to challenge his unlawful arrest and detention by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The plaintiff alleged that the Sheriff's Office carelessly and aggressively arrested him for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) between the two agencies, in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights and his right to be free from false imprisonment under Florida law. The BOA scheme provided the Sheriff with $50 per arrest for detaining individuals arrested for ICE. The plaintiff claimed that despite his repeated protests to multiple jail officers and his offer to produce proof of his U.S. citizenship, the Sheriff’s Office held him so that ICE could deport him to Jamaica. The plaintiff would have been deported to Jamaica but-for a last-minute intervention in which a friend sent a copy of the plaintiff's birth certificate to an ICE agent. The plaintiff sought declaratory and compensatory damages, as well as attorney’s fees. Chief Judge K. Michael Moore was assigned to the case, but was reassigned to Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

On February 11, 2019, Judge Williams set a jury trial on February 3, 2020. In the meantime, the parties engaged in negotiations with a mediator. Ultimately, the parties failed to reach a settlement agreement. The trial date was reset for July 20, 2020, and discovery continued.

On February 18, 2020, both the plaintiff and defendants filed for summary judgment. The case was stayed for a few months in mid-2020, in part due to interruptions caused by COVID-19. In the ensuing months, the parties jointly asked for multiple stays for trial proceedings.

Currently, the parties are supposed to file their motions in limine by May 17, 2021 and their pretrial stipulation and deposition designations by June 7, 2021. The case remains ongoing.

Sichun Liu - 04/11/2019
Aaron Gurley - 12/28/2019
Gabrielle Simeck - 04/11/2021


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