FDLE Dismissed As Defendant in JEREMY BANKS' Civil Rights Lawsuit; Agent Rusty Ray Rodgers Must File Answer

On July 22, 2015, United States District Judge Brian J. Davis dismissed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a defendant in JEREMY BAKNS' civil rights lawsuit concerning the investigation of the September 2, 2010 shooting death of Michelle O'Connell in BANKS' home. Judge Davis denied FDLE Agent Rusty Ray Rodgers' motion to dismiss.

The case against Agent Rodgers will now proceed to an answer and discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

FDLE was dismissed based upon Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity.

"Viewed in the light most favorable" to BANKS, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (12)(b)(6), Judge Davis ordered that Agent Rodgers remains as a defendant. Judge Davis so ruled based upon BANKS' Amended Complaint stating an "at least plausible" complaint upon which relief can be granted that Agent Rodgers "lied" concerning Agent Rodgers' alleged "misrepresentations and omissions."

Judge Davis noted with frustration, in text and in a footnote, that both parties don't want to disclose facts alleged in search warrant affidavits and that without them, the Court could not determinate their "relevancy to probable cause or its absence."