Joseph Watson v. Patrick Pearson

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

*509Joseph D. Watson filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that law-enforcement officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights by engaging in a warrantless search of the curtilage surrounding the residence where he was found. The district court agreed that the officers had violated Watson's Fourth Amendment rights, but held that those rights were not clearly established at the time of the officers' actions. Accordingly, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the officers based on the doctrine of qualified immunity. Watson then filed this timely…