PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-2120

TINA RAY,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

MICHAEL ROANE, in his individual capacity,

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg. Elizabeth Kay Dillon, District Judge. (5:17-cv-00093-EKD-JCH)

Argued: December 6, 2023 Decided: February 22, 2024

Before GREGORY and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Harris wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge Gregory and Judge Floyd joined.

ARGUED: John Michael Shoreman, MCFADDEN & SHOREMAN, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Carlene Booth Johnson, PERRY LAW FIRM, PC, Dillwyn, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Mario Bernard Williams, HDR LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, for Appellant. USCA4 Appeal: 22-2120 Doc: 44 Filed: 02/22/2024 Pg: 2 of 15

PAMELA HARRIS, Circuit Judge:

Michael Roane, a police officer, shot and killed Tina Ray’s dog while attempting to

serve an arrest warrant. In a previous decision, we reversed the dismissal of Ray’s action

against Roane, identifying two material allegations that, if substantiated, would support an

inference that the shooting was unnecessary and therefore unconstitutional under the

Fourth Amendment. Because discovery yielded a genuine dispute about those material

facts, it now falls to a jury to decide which side of the dispute to credit. We therefore vacate

the district court’s entry of summary judgment in Roane’s favor and remand for trial.

I.

A.

This case began in 2017, when four Augusta County law enforcement officers

arrived at Tina Ray’s house to serve an arrest warrant and protective order. They were

greeted by Tina Ray; two of Ray’s friends; and Ray’s dog, a 150-pound German shepherd

named Jax. The officers called Deputy Sheriff Michael Roane for investigative support,

and the whole group waited at a picnic table in Ray’s yard for 30 or 40 minutes until Roane

arrived.

Jax lounged nearby, tethered somewhat unconventionally to a 25-foot “zip line”

connecting two trees in the yard. He remained tethered throughout a rapidly developing

2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-2120 Doc: 44 Filed: 02/22/2024 Pg: 3 of 15

episode that began when Roane arrived and ended when Roane shot Jax dead. Ray then

sued for unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. 1

B.

Roane moved to dismiss Ray’s complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules

of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim. Because the ultimate disposition of that

motion bears substantially on this appeal, we describe it in some detail here.

1.

At the motion to dismiss stage, a court must “accept as true all of the factual

allegations contained in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the

plaintiff.” King v. Rubenstein, 825 F.3d 206, 212 (4th Cir. 2016). In her complaint, Ray

alleged that Roane arrived dramatically on the scene in his truck, “barreling” down her

driveway, “screeching to a halt” under the zip line, and “slamm[ing] the door” as he exited.

J.A. 12–13. Alarm

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