Kevin Byrd v. Bossier Parish Sheriff, Deputy Scott Nelson, Deputy H. Balkom, Officer M. Hannah, and Officer K. Hardin

Summary

The Louisiana Second Circuit affirmed judgments sustaining exceptions of prescription and dismissing Kevin Byrd’s claims arising from alleged excessive force during his arrest. The court held that Byrd’s allegations did not sufficiently establish that the officers’ conduct constituted a crime of violence triggering Louisiana Civil Code article 3493.10’s two-year prescriptive period, so the one-year period under article 3492 applied.

Holdings

1. Allegations that law-enforcement officers used excessive force during an arrest, together with allegations of serious injury, do not by themselves sufficiently allege that the defendants committed an act defined as a crime of violence under La. R.S. 14:2(B). Permitted use of reasonable force during a lawful arrest is not automatically transformed into a crime of violence by the resulting injury.
2. The one-year prescriptive period under La. C.C. art. 3492 applied to Byrd's claims, and his state-court action filed on September 21, 2021, was prescribed because the alleged injury occurred during his August 29, 2019 arrest.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Byrd's allegations that officers used excessive force during his arrest sufficiently alleged damages resulting from an act defined as a crime of violence under La. C.C. art. 3493.10, thereby triggering a two-year prescriptive period.
2. Whether the trial court properly sustained the exceptions of prescription and dismissed Byrd's state-law claims.

Disposition

affirmed