Bahakel v. Tate

This appeal arose from an action for unlawful arrest brought by Sahid Bahakel against the City of Birmingham, city magistrate Franklin Tate, and Marva Gibbs.

On September 14, 1981, Tate, in his capacity as a magistrate of the City of Birmingham, received a complaint from Marva Gibbs. Gibbs requested a warrant for the arrest of a person who she alleged had presented a pistol at her. Gibbs provided Tate with a tag number of the vehicle which she claimed was driven by the gunman. She also told Tate that a police officer investigating the incident had informed her that the car was registered to…