The incident began on April 19, 2021, when a neighbor called 911 to report that a chihuahua belonging to the Smith family at 480 Leasingham Way in Duluth, Georgia was "trying to attack" her. The responding officer, Eric Ehrenreich, entered the Smiths' unfenced backyard, encountered Catherine Smith on the back deck, and then fled after hearing a noise — radioing that residents were "coming out to attack me," though he also noted on the radio that "no crime ha[d] been committed." He retrieved a rifle from his vehicle and held it at a low-ready position. Officer James Tait arrived shortly after in response to that call.
Within approximately one minute of arriving, Tait used his vehicle's PA system to announce: "This is the Johns Creek Police. Everyone inside the house is under arrest. Come out with your hands up immediately." He repeated similar commands approximately thirteen more times over the next seven minutes. Two 911 operators separately told the Smiths that if they did not come out, officers would enter the home and arrest them. The Smiths — Dwight, Catherine, and Bryant — remained inside for roughly 45 minutes before Catherine and Dwight eventually emerged.
U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Geraghty, writing for the Northern District of Georgia, held that Tait and the other officers did seize Catherine and Dwight Smith for Fourth Amendment purposes when they exited the home — but only at that moment, not while they remained inside. The court reasoned that a show-of-authority seizure requires actual submission, and the Smiths did not submit to Tait's initial commands. Bryant Smith, who never left the house, could not bring a seizure claim at all.
The seizure analysis turned on five factors the court found significant at the moment the Smiths stepped outside: officers had surrounded the home for 45 minutes with vehicles blocking the cul-de-sac; the encounter occurred at the home, which the court described as occupying a uniquely protected position in Fourth Amendment doctrine; officers continued requesting that the Smiths come out even after Sergeant Derrick Wilson told Catherine Smith he was not seeking to arrest anyone; Tait's earlier unequivocal arrest commands informed how a reasonable person would perceive the later requests; and officers physically stepped onto the driveway and briefly blocked the Smiths' path when they emerged. The court assumed without deciding that the seizure was unreasonable, because Tait had not argued the seizure was justified.
On the clearly-established-law question, the court held that Tait was entitled to qualified immunity. The court identified two features of the case that made the seizure analysis genuinely difficult: the Smiths waited more than 30 minutes after Tait's final bullhorn command before coming outside, and during that interval Wilson repeatedly told Catherine Smith he had no interest in arresting anyone and used language — including asking whether she was "willing" to come to the steps — that could be read as indicating the encounter had become consensual. The court noted that the Eleventh Circuit has said a suspect ordinarily must submit immediately to a show of authority to demonstrate yielding, and that no Supreme Court or Eleventh Circuit precedent addressed a materially similar fact pattern. Because a reasonable officer in Tait's position could have believed no seizure occurred, the court held the law was not clearly established.
The court also granted Tait summary judgment on the Smiths' excessive force claim — finding no evidence Tait applied any physical force or brandished a weapon — and on their First Amendment retaliation, failure-to-intervene, and civil conspiracy claims. On the state law trespass and assault claims, the court held Tait was entitled to official immunity under Georgia law because the Smiths presented no evidence of actual malice or actual intent to cause injury. Tait was dismissed from the case entirely.