Dougherty v. City of Covina

Bruce Dougherty (plaintiff) was a sixth-grade teacher at Royal Oak Elementary School. Dougherty was accused of multiple instances of inappropriate sexual conduct with female students. Based on the accusations, Officer Robert Bobkiewicz (defendant), a sex-crimes detective with the City of Covina Police Department, applied for a warrant to search Dougherty’s computer and electronic media. In the warrant application, Bobkiewicz stated that he had 14 years of experience as a police officer, extensive training in sex crimes involving children, and extensive experience investigating child sexual abuse and child-pornography offenses. Bobkiewicz stated that, based on his experience and training, sex offenders like Dougherty typically also possessed child pornography. The court issued the warrant. Bobkiewicz, along with other officers, searched Dougherty’s home and seized his computer and electronic media. The police kept Dougherty’s computer and electronic media for more than one year, but no child-pornography charges were ever filed against Dougherty. Dougherty sued the City of Covina (defendant) and Bobkiewicz for violating his Fourth Amendment rights, arguing that the search warrant was not supported by probable cause. The district court dismissed Dougherty’s complaint with prejudice, holding that the warrant was supported by probable cause and that Bobkiewicz was entitled to qualified immunity. Dougherty appealed.