Roland Ware v. Kenneth Dean Reed, as an Individual and in His Capacity as Sheriff of Caldwell County, Texas

JOHN R. BROWN, Circuit Judge:

Improper jury instructions can sometimes prevent a conscientious and attentive jury from unweaving a tangled web. In this appeal from a general verdict against him, Roland Ware assails the district court’s instructions to the jury on his federal and state law claims. General instructions were given to the jury on Ware’s federal, but not his state law claims. When considered with the most liberal gloss we can place on them, we find that the instructions were deficient in several constitutional dimensions. We therefore reverse.

I. The Facts

Roland Ware brought suit…