⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

We hear oral argument from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Folks versus Sainato. Jared Folks sued a Louisiana sheriff's deputy and the sheriff of Plaquemines Parish, claiming false arrest and malicious prosecution. The core legal issue is whether a jury's verdict in favor of the deputy should stand or whether the district court should have granted judgment as a matter of law for Folks. The case turns on surveillance video from an apartment complex parking gate, and on whether the deputy could reasonably believe Folks was the driver of the vehicle in it. Folks argues the video shows he was not the driver. He also argues the deputy knew or should have known that when he swore out the arrest warrant. The jury returned a verdict for the deputy. Folks now asks the Fifth Circuit to reverse, arguing no reasonable jury could disregard the video and the testimony of a sheriff's office detective who said he compared the video with Folks's driver's license. At trial the defense called no witnesses, resting after Folks presented his case. Counsel for the deputy argues that Folks led investigators to believe he was the driver, and that a separate charge, failing to produce proof of insurance, supported the arrest regardless of the video.

Folks v. Sainato (No. 25-30456) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued August 3, 2026.