Payne v. Breuer

OPINION

BIRCH, Justice.

In this cause, we granted appellant’s application to appeal in order to determine whether a police officer who made a warrantless seizure of funds he believed to have been derived from unlawful drug transactions is entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity, under the circumstances here presented, in an action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For the reasons stated herein, we find that he is not.

I

Ruby Payne, the appellant, is the proprietor of the Long Branch Store in Jonesbor-ough. James Breuer, a police officer employed by the City of Bristol…