Fletcher Altman Smith, and Marguerite Elizabeth Smith v. Don Heath, and Jack Rohtert

HILLMAN, District Judge.

Jack Rohtert, a homicide detective with the Nashville and Davidson County [Tennessee] Metropolitan Police, appeals a judgment against him in the amount of $39,-524.95 for willfully violating the constitutional rights of Fletcher Altman Smith [Smith] and Marguerite Elizabeth Smith [M. E. Smith]. (Although sharing the same last name, Smith and M. E. Smith are not related.)

On May 24, 1975, Smith committed a minor traffic offense in front of his motel in Nashville. Officer Don Heath, a co-defendant, followed Smith into the motel driveway where Smith parked his van and went…