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tort liability for wrongful arrest if he had a ―good faith and
reasonable belief‖ that a crime was committed in his presence,
DeChene v. Smallwood, 226 Va. 475, 479, 311 S.E.2d 749, 751
(1984) (citations omitted), at this early stage in the
litigation, the facts do not support such a finding . Rather,
viewing the facts in a light most favorable to Plai ntiff, as
required of the Court in this procedural posture, t he Court must
assume that Plaintiff, in a calming manner, called her husband
―Honey,‖ asked him ―please don‘t do this,‖ and just ifiably
touched him on the wrist in a non-threatening manne r to help
calm him down. Compl. ¶ 10. As there are no facts alleged
suggesting that such touch elevated the dispute, an d the facts
alleged instead only indicate that Plaintiff‘s non -threatening
touch sought to diffuse the tension, Plaintiff suff iciently
alleges that Briggs lacked justification to handcuf f her and
place her under arrest. Accordingly, the Complaint adequately
states a plausible right to relief against Briggs f or assault,13
battery, and false imprisonment. Briggs‘ motion to dismiss is
therefore denied as to Counts Three, Four, and Five.
13 Although Plaintiff‘s narrative states that she was handcuffed
―without warning,‖ thereby eliminating any opportun ity for
Plaintiff to fear an imminent battery, P laintiff‘s facts detail
several instances when she was touched by Briggs, s uch as being
placed in the police car, and placed in the holding cell.
Accordingly, it would be premature to dismiss the a ssault count
at this time solely based on Plaintiff‘s admission that the
initial touching was ― without warning.‖ Jump to an indexed page (39 of 39)