The Law Office of Daniel A. Horwitz, Esq.

August 22, 2022

Horwitz Law, PLLC Client Kenneth Mynatt Wins Federal Tort Claims Act Appeal, Unanimous Reversal of District Court Order Before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

In a unanimous panel opinion issued on August 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ordered that Horwitz Law, PLLC appellate client Kenneth Mynatt’s malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy claims against the United States—maintained under the Federal Tort Claims Act—be reinstated and permitted to move forward.  The Court’s unanimous ruling, authored by Judge Richard Griffin, sets critical Circuit precedent that presenting false evidence to secure an indictment is not “discretionary” conduct within the meaning of the Federal Tort Claims Act’s “discretionary function” exception.

“The question here is whether presenting false evidence (in testimonial or documentary form) to a prosecutor and then to a grand jury is the type of conduct ‘that the discretionary function exception was designed to shield.’  The answer here is plainly no,” Judge Griffin explains.  In so holding, the Sixth Circuit has joined other federal courts in concluding that “[t]here can be no argument that perjury is the sort of legislative or administrative decision grounded in social, economic, and political policy that Congress sought to shield from second-guessing.”  In reversing Middle District of Tennessee District Court Judge William Campbell’s contrary ruling, the Panel further “agree[d] with Mynatt that the district court framed the issue incorrectly and erred[.]”

“We are proud to have represented Mr. Mynatt on appeal and to have won him a unanimous, precedent-setting reversal that permits his Federal Tort Claims Act claims against the United States to move forward,” said Horwitz Law, PLLC principal Daniel A. Horwitz, who represented Mr. Mynatt on appeal along with co-counsel Lindsay Smith.

Read the Sixth Circuit’s unanimous ruling in Kenneth J. Mynatt v. United States of America, et al., here.  Mr. Mynatt’s briefing in the case and selected media coverage are available below.

Case Documents:

Principal Brief of Plaintiff-Appellant

Reply Brief of Plaintiff-Appellant

Selected Media Coverage:

-Bloomberg News: IRS Worker Gets Retaliation Claim Against Feds Revived on Appeal

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As part of Horwitz Law, PLLC’s appellate practice, Horwitz Law has successfully represented appellate clients in high-stakes, high-profile appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel, and in administrative agency appeals to Davidson County Chancery Court.  Horwitz Law also provides amicus curiae representation in both state and federal appellate courts.  If you are seeking appellate representation, you can purchase a consultation from Horwitz Law here.

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February 29, 2020

Horwitz Declared Among “Best of the Best” Lawyers in Nashville by The Nashville Post Again

Prestigious legal list cites Horwitz’s “high-profile client roster,” litigation success against powerful litigants

Once again, Daniel Horwitz, a constitutional lawyer and impact litigator, has been named to The Nashville Post’s “Legal in Charge” list for 2020, which recognizes “Middle Tennessee’s cream of the crop” for legal services.  The honor cites Horwitz’s “high-profile client roster” and litigation success on behalf of underdogs against powerful litigants.  Horwitz was previously named to the list in 2019 after he “successfully petitioned to move mayoral election” and successfully “represented Community Oversight Now,” the group responsible for instituting Nashville’s police oversight board.

Daniel Horwitz is constitutional lawyer based in Nashville, Tennessee.  If you would like to purchase a consultation from Horwitz, you can do so using the following form:

Consultation Payment Form

Payment for: 30-Minute Consultation

Amount: $300.00

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April 7, 2015

Daniel Horwitz’ Memphis Law Review Article on Fourth Amendment Receives National Recognition

11703305_10102459429550265_2047795657861179140_nNashville attorney Daniel Horwitz’s Memphis Law Review article: The First 48: Ending the Use of Categorically Unconstitutional Investigative Holds in Violation of County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 45 U. Mem L. Rev. 519 (2015), has been selected as a “must read” publication by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) The Champion magazine and the Getting Scholarship into Court Project.  Since its publication, the article (accessible here) has also been cited in multiple filings before the United States Supreme Court and by preeminent Fourth Amendment scholar Wayne LaFave.

Horwitz’s article, published in the Spring 2015 edition of the Memphis Law Review, critiques the holding adopted by a growing number of courts that law enforcement may delay a warrantless arrestee’s constitutional right to receive a judicial determination of probable cause for up to forty-eight hours following an arrest as long as a judge or magistrate ultimately determines that the arrest itself was supported by probable cause. Although this issue has largely escaped review within academic literature, the practice of employing investigative detentions against warrantless arrestees is widespread among law enforcement. Of note, whether such investigative detentions comport with the Fourth Amendment has also generated a circuit split between the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and one of two irreconcilable lines of authority within the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The issue has similarly divided the appellate courts of at least nine states.

Horwitz’s article rejects the notion that law enforcement may ever deliberately delay a warrantless arrestee’s constitutional right to receive a judicial determination of probable cause (known as a “Gerstein hearing”) in order to facilitate further investigation by law enforcement. Specifically, Horwitz argues that the conclusion reached by several courts that police may intentionally delay a warrantless arrestee’s Gerstein hearing for the purpose of further investigation as long as probable cause existed to justify the defendant’s arrest in the first place is inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment for five separate reasons. First, he argues, it confounds the essential distinction between a judicial determination of probable cause, which is a constitutional right, and a determination of probable cause that is made by law enforcement, which carries no constitutional significance. Second, it violates the “administrative purpose” requirement — initially established by the Supreme Court in Gerstein v. Pugh, and subsequently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in County of Riverside v. McLaughlin — which permits law enforcement to delay a warrantless arrestee’s Gerstein hearing for administratively necessary reasons only. Third, this conclusion fails to grasp the crucial distinction between, on the one hand, delaying a warrantless arrestee’s Gerstein hearing for investigative reasons, and on the other, continuing an investigation while the administrative steps leading up to a warrantless arrestee’s Gerstein hearing are simultaneously being completed. Fourth, it renders McLaughlin’s express prohibition on “delays for the purpose of gathering additional evidence to justify [an] arrest” superfluous, because all arrests unsupported by probable cause are already prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Fifth, it substantially diminishes the value of the check on law enforcement established by Gerstein by introducing hindsight bias into probable cause determinations and by allowing a substantial number of warrantless arrests to escape judicial review of any kind.

To request a hard copy of the article, please e-mail the author at [email protected].

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