This case seeks accountability for the malicious prosecution by Louisiana authorities of Gregory Bledsoe, a former handyman who spent nearly two years in jail on a false charge of burglary of an apartment where he had been hired to repair a broken window.

Police from the Shreveport Police Department initially investigated the scene of the burglary while the window was broken. After their initial investigation, the landlord sent Mr. Bledsoe to repair the window. He cut himself during the repair and inadvertently left behind a few drops of blood. When police returned days later, they noted the repaired window, took the blood sample, and matched it to Mr. Bledsoe. They then filed for an arrest warrant—without telling the judge about the window repair and that the landlord had sent Mr. Bledsoe to do it. When Mr. Bledsoe offered evidence of his job assignment to the Caddo Parish District Attorney, she ignored it, pressuring him to take a plea deal and carrying the false case to trial when he refused.

Faced with overwhelming evidence of his innocence, the judge acquitted Mr. Bledsoe of all charges.

Louisiana leads the United States in incarceration rate per capita, and has been called the world’s prison capital. This high incarceration rate is caused at least in part by aggressive prosecution and coerced plea bargaining.

What is the legal argument in this case?

Mr. Bledsoe’s wrongful arrest for simple burglary was predicated on police reports and affidavits lacking critical facts relevant to probable cause and officers signing objectively unreasonable arrest-warrant affidavits. Despite providing exculpatory evidence to the Caddo Parish District Attorneys’ Office, Mr. Bledsoe spent nearly two years incarcerated for crimes he did not commit—only for him to be declared not guilty at trial.

These actions constitute malicious prosecution under Louisiana state law and the Fourth Amendment, actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

What is the status of this case?

Currently pending decision on cross-motions for summary judgment after the district court denied a motion to dismiss from police officer defendants, rejecting their qualified immunity defense. The Fifth Circuit affirmed. The court also denied a motion to dismiss brought by the prosecutor, rejecting her absolute immunity defense.