RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court has revived a Roanoke man's lawsuit against two police officers who detained him for a psychiatric evaluation.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that a judge who dismissed the complaint improperly treated a police report as the truth rather than just the officers' version of disputed events.
Gordon Goines was involuntarily detained for six days after complaining to police about a neighbor splicing into his cable, causing unusual noises from his TV. According to the complaint, officers Robert Shaw and David Dean concluded he was imagining the noises even though they never turned on the television.
In their report, police said Goines stated there was a clicking noise in the wall because someone outside was controlling his TV.
