United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED February 25, 2025 No. 24-10271 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk David Bakutis, as Temporary Administrator for the Estate of Atatiana Jefferson,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus Aaron Dean,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 4:21-CV-665 ______________________________ Before Ho, Engelhardt, and Douglas, Circuit Judges. Kurt D. Engelhardt, Circuit Judge: Aaron Dean appeals the district court’s judgment denying qualified immunity. We AFFIRM the district court’s judgment as to the excessive force claim, but we REVERSE and REMAND on the unreasonable search claim. I. On October 12, 2019, at 2:25 a.m., the Fort Worth Police Department received a phone call from one of Atatiana Jefferson’s neighbors. The neighbor told the police that he was concerned that Jefferson’s front door Case: 24-10271 Document: 71-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/25/2025

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was open. The neighbor also explicitly said that Jefferson’s door is usually closed. This sort of report is known as an “open structure call.” Dean responded to the call and arrived at Jefferson’s home at 2:28 a.m. 1 Another police officer arrived shortly after Dean at 2:29 a.m. Following Department protocol, both officers parked around the corner out of view of the residence, and neither activated their emergency lights or sirens. The rationale behind such a protocol is to avoid notifying a potential burglar that the police are on the scene. After arriving at the home, the officers approached the residence and looked through the front door’s screen window. Then, they walked around the house and looked through a screen door on the side of the home. The officers continued to walk around the house and use their flashlights to look for signs of a break in. They also checked the cars in the driveway and the garage, which they found closed. The officers finished the perimeter sweep by opening a gate on the side of the home and shining Dean’s flashlight through a window to look for a disturbance. Around 2:30 a.m., Jefferson became aware that someone was outside her home. Unbeknownst to the officers, Jefferson was home watching her nephew. Jefferson and her nephew stayed up late playing video games and opened the door to let a breeze into the house. When Jefferson realized someone was outside, she stood up and walked to the window to look outside. She had no way of knowing it was the police and not an intruder outside of her home at this early hour of the morning. 2

_____________________ 1 Dean was a police officer on October 12, 2019. He has since resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department. 2 Without discovery, it is unclear whether Jefferson had a gun or other weapon in her hand when she went to the window. The complaint does not allege that Jefferson did,

2 Case: 24-10271 Document: 71-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/25/2025

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When Jefferson’s figure appeared at the window, Dean pulled o