Anthony Haro v. Dr. Theodore T. Brown; Ray Shastid; and Daniel Esterline

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas held that testing a voluntarily collected urine sample after the plaintiff unequivocally withdrew consent constituted an alleged Fourth Amendment violation. The court nevertheless granted Dr. Theodore Brown qualified immunity because the right was not clearly established under existing precedent. The claims against Brown were dismissed with prejudice, while the claims against the other defendants remained pending.

Holdings

1. Haro adequately alleged a Fourth Amendment violation because the collection and later testing of the urine were separate searches, Haro unequivocally revoked consent before testing, and Dr. Brown tested the sample without a warrant or another recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
2. Dr. Brown was entitled to qualified immunity because, even assuming the testing violated the Fourth Amendment, no binding or persuasive precedent clearly established that consent to biological testing given at the collection stage could be withdrawn before testing or that the subsequent testing was a separate unconstitutional search.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Haro alleged that Dr. Brown's testing of the urine sample after Haro revoked consent violated the Fourth Amendment.
2. Whether the Fourth Amendment right allegedly violated was clearly established as of December 16, 2024, such that Dr. Brown was not entitled to qualified immunity.
3. Whether Haro's claims against Dr. Brown should be dismissed with prejudice.

Disposition

dismissed