United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 24-40174 ____________ FILED January 8, 2025 Ricardo Sauceda, Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus Hector Lopez, Individually and in his official capacity as a Peace Officer for the City of San Benito, Texas Police Department,

Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 1:17-CV-135 ______________________________ Before Jones and Oldham, Circuit Judges, and Hendrix, District Judge. * Per Curiam: Officer Hector Lopez of the San Benito Police Department was responding to a neighborhood domestic dispute when he encountered Ricardo Sauceda standing on the front lawn of his home across the street from a member of the Cortez family, who accused Sauceda of acting

_____________________ * United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, sitting by designation. Case: 24-40174 Document: 54-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/08/2025

No. 24-40174

aggressive and making obscene gestures. Sauceda declined to identify himself, and he began retreating. Lopez entered the property through a gate in a chain-link fence and subdued Sauceda before placing him in handcuffs. Prosecutors dropped their charges against Sauceda, but he filed this Section 1983 lawsuit, which states claims of excessive force and false arrest against Officer Lopez. The district court granted summary judgment to Lopez on qualified immunity grounds after determining that there was no constitutional violation. This court concluded that Sauceda was subjected to a false arrest because Lopez arrested him without a warrant and within the curtilage of his home. Sauceda v. City of San Benito, 78 F.4th 174, 184–85 (5th Cir. 2023). The case was remanded to the district court to determine whether the law was clearly established in 2015 when the incident occurred. The district court held that it was not. We AFFIRM. I. BACKGROUND The issues in this litigation date back to June 2015, when Marco Cortez called the San Benito Police Department and alleged disorderly conduct by Sauceda. Officer Lopez arrived at the scene and interviewed Cortez, who was attending a graduation party for one of his sisters. The festivities took place across the street from the Sauceda residence. Cortez told Lopez that he had left the party and was waiting outside for his wife when Sauceda began making offensive gestures from his front lawn and yelling, “What are you looking at?” Cortez indicated that he “wanted to file a report” to document the interaction. Officer Lopez crossed the street to speak with Sauceda, who was still standing outside on his front lawn. The Sauceda property, including a concrete driveway, was enclosed by a chain-link fence, which had two entrances: a wide gate for vehicles and a smaller entry for individuals. Both

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