Lawsuit against two Selma police officers by local lawyer thrown out by state Supreme Court

A ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court ends a $4 million lawsuit filed by local attorney Faya Rose Toure against a Selma police detective and the former police chief.  

The supreme court on June 27ordered the Dallas County Circuit Court to issue a summary judgment in favor of Selma Police Officer Det. Devon McGuire and former Police Chief Spencer Collier. The supreme court ruled that “Toure’s claims against (McGuire and Collier) are barred by the immunity afforded to municipal peace officers”by state law and by the doctrine of state-agent immunity. 

Toure also sued the city of Selma, but the city was already dismissed from the lawsuit.  

“Toure asserted against McGuire and Collier numerous claims, including assault and battery; false arrest; unlawful imprisonment; invasion of privacy; ‘negligence, carelessness, and unskillfulness’; wantonness; abuse of legal process; ‘unreasonable seizure’; and ‘defamation/libel,’” the supreme court ruling states. 

“Toure asserted against the city (of Selma) claims of negligent, careless and ‘unskillful’ hiring, training, and/or supervision, and ‘custom of police abuse,’” the ruling says. 

Toure sought $1 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, according to the supreme court ruling.  

The case stems from a July 2019 incident in which “McGuire witnessed Toure remove a campaign sign that did not belong to her, from property that, likewise, did not belong to her, and that, when McGuire attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Toure drove approximately three and a half blocks despite knowing that McGuire was a police officer,” the supreme court ruling states.  

McGuire arrested Toure for fourth-degree theft of property and attempting to elude a police officer. 

Toure said the arrest was improper, and the libel claims are related to a news conference Collier held about her arrest. Toure claimed the news conference was an attempt to “defame and portray [Toure] as a ‘criminal’ to the public.” Collier said he held the news conference to respond to questions he was receiving from the media about the arrest.  

The ruling states that Toure claimed her conduct wasn’t criminal “because she was removing what she thought was an illegally placed campaign sign from public property and had no intent of keeping the sign.” The supreme court said that despite her claim, McGuire had sufficient probable cause at the time to make an arrest.  

Toure also failed to prove her claim that her constitutional right to free speech was violated by the arrest, the ruling states.