LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A federal appeals court has ruled that Louisville Metro Police acted on stale information and without probable cause when they raided a home in July 2019 to serve a warrant on an alleged drug suspect -- but instead handcuffed a painter, his girlfriend and her 10-year-old daughter.

In March, a federal court judge had dismissed the lawsuit against the city and LMPD, ruling that police had produced enough "probable cause" for former Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Mary Shaw to sign off on a warrant. (Shaw also signed off on the Breonna Taylor search warrant.)

But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling on May 13, finding that the home had been vacant for several days and the suspect already had been arrested and was in custody when officers raided the house in the Southside neighborhood, shooting objects through windows and breaking in with weapons drawn.

The higher court found that the officer who applied for the search warrant had inadequate training and the department has a history of improper searches.

“The district court erred by finding that no constitutional violation occurred,” the three-judge appellate panel ruled.

Roy Stucker told officers he had been hired to paint the house and pleaded with them not to handcuff his girlfriend and her child.

“Officers proceeded to handcuff and separate all three,” according to the appeals court ruling. “A search of the mostly empty home yielded no evidence of any criminal activity. Officers joked after discussing their fruitless search that it revealed ‘the old setting up the painters trick.’”

Video of the SWAT raid at center of lawsuit by Roy Stucker for a 2019 raid by Louisville Metro Police. Stucker, his girlfriend and 10-year-old daughter were put in handcuffs. 

U.S. District Court Judge Greg Stivers had previously ruled that the warrant proved the alleged drug dealer had been to the home before it was vacated and evidence could have been found there. "Thus, no constitutional violation occurred in the issuance of the warrant," he ruled. 

But the appeals court found that the suspect police were looking for did not live at the home, was never seen conducting a drug deal there and had only visited the person who lived there weeks prior to the search.

Also, the officer who wrote the search warrant testified he had not had any formal training on warrants in more than six years and did not know whether LMPD policies required him to determine who lived in the home.

In addition, the appeals court rejected the city’s request to disregard the Department of Justice’s findings in a wide-ranging civil rights review of LMPD that began in the wake of the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor.

Federal investigators strongly rebuked the actions of Louisville police, saying they believe the department and Metro government for years engaged in practices that violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law, including excessive use of force and searches based on invalid search warrants.

Several attorneys have used the DOJ report to strengthen lawsuits against the city and police department. Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell’s office has argued against the report being used in these cases.

Stucker’s attorney, Josh Rose, used the 2023 DOJ report as part of his appeal to the Sixth Circuit.

“The DOJ Report was grounded in data that is relevant to this case,” the appeals court ruled, rejecting the city’s request to exclude it. “Ultimately, the Report found that ‘LMPD engages in a pattern of practice of seeking search warrants in ways that deprive individuals of their rights under the Fourth Amendment.”

The appeals court sent the lawsuit back to Judge Stivers, in part, because he did not have the report when he dismissed the case.

In a statement, Rose said that "my clients and I are glad the Court of Appeals decided the search warrant lacked probable cause and we look forward to achieving justice in this case.”

The city typically does not comment on pending litigation. 

When police arrived in two armored vehicles and at least one ATV on July 15, 2019, the house had been empty for days, with furniture outside on the curb and Stucker's painting truck sitting in front.

Stucker and his girlfriend, Courtney Brown-Porter, initially believed they were being robbed and feared they would be killed, the lawsuit claims.

Within seconds of shouting out a demand to exit, police shattered then shot through a window. 

The couple and Brown-Porter's daughter were allegedly handcuffed for about 20 minutes.

"Out of nowhere, we heard like banging on the doors," Stucker previously told WDRB News. "We didn't know if it was somebody trying to get in or somebody's looking for someone who used to live there."

"They (police) treated us horrible, I mean, worse than if we was what he was looking for, talking bad about us, cussed her out for getting upset," Stucker said.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court against the city and police, argued LMPD could have easily verified that the target of the investigation had already been arrested and was in custody.

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