Augustus Symonette v. City of North Las Vegas

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiffs Augustus and Michelle Symo-nette appeal from the district court’s grant of defendants’ motions for summary judgment. While Augustus Symonette (“Sym-onette”) was waiting to pick up his son from work, in the vicinity of a narcotics-related traffic stop that was still in progress, two North Las Vegas Police officers approached Symonette, threatened to use a Taser on him, and handcuffed him before releasing him several minutes later. Sym-onette’s complaint alleged deprivation of civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , conspiracy to interfere with civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 , battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the defendant officers, as well as negligent hiring and respondeat superior claims against the City of North Las Vegas and its police department. Symonette’s wife, Michelle Symonette, also sued the defendants for loss of consortium resulting from the incident. The district court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on all counts, ruling that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity on the federal civil rights claims and concluding that the evidence did not support plaintiffs’ state-based claims. We…