LAFAYETTE – A Vernon Parish man alleges that he was illegally arrested by a Leesville police officer last year.
Aaron Forrest Branning filed a complaint on May 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Joey Goodwin and the city of Leesville alleging violation of civil rights and citing the Fourth and 14 Amendments.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on May 28, 2016, he was handcuffed and arrested by defendant Goodwin, a Leesville police officer. The suit states that at the time of the incident, Branning was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over in Leesville for a noise violation. A Leesville judge later held that there was no probably cause for the plaintiff's arrest, the suit states.
The plaintiff holds Goodwin and the city of Leesville responsible because the Goodwin's actions allegedly were maliciously and recklessly indifferent to the plaintiff's federally protected rights.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks attorney's fees. He is represented by Mary K. Beaird of Mary K. Beaird, Attorney at Law in Leesville.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana case number 2:17-cv-00696