{"id":2573,"date":"2025-06-01T13:29:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T17:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2025-06-01T13:29:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T17:29:47","slug":"case_ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/01\/case_ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonard Johnson v. Town of Prosper, Paul D. Boothe, Doug Kowalski &#8211; Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Case Update<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From time to time, folks ask me, \u201cWhat\u2019s the status of the case?\u201d That\u2019s usually followed by, \u201cWhy is it taking so long?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me just say\u2014being involved in a lawsuit takes time. SMU began working on my case around Thanksgiving of 2022. It took nearly six months just to make the initial filing, which happened on July 17, 2023. After that, we entered the answer and counter-answer phase with the defendants, which wasn\u2019t completed until November 21, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s a long time just to get something in front of a judge\u2014but apparently, it\u2019s typical in cases like this. Everything in the complaint had to be backed by case law, which meant a lot of research. SMU had to dig through historic cases, compare them to my situation, and frame everything into a single complaint\u2014under 30 pages. Needless to say, this process is tedious and has to be done right the first time\u2014there are no do-overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once that was done, the judge had to do his own due diligence. He posts his hearing schedule online two weeks in advance, and I\u2019d check each week to see if my case had been added. Let\u2019s just say\u2014he\u2019s a busy man. After reading his ruling, I now understand why it took so long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To bring everyone up to speed:<br>The core of my complaint focused on violations of my First and Fourth Amendment rights by Prosper Police Officer Paul Boothe. The second part of the complaint was supervisory liability by Prosper Police Chief Doug Kowalski. The third part was municipal liability against the Town of Prosper. Each of the three defendants filed motions to dismiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The judge broke the ruling into two parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Part One:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Addressed:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First and Fourth Amendment violations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Qualified immunity claims (Boothe)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supervisory liability (Kowalski)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ruling:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The motion to dismiss the First and Fourth Amendment violations and qualified immunity claims was <strong>denied<\/strong>.<br><em>This means we can move forward with our lawsuit against Officer Boothe.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The motion to dismiss the supervisory liability was <strong>granted<\/strong>.<br><em>While this isn\u2019t ideal\u2014because we all know the role the chief played\u2014there will be opportunities for that truth to come out later.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Dkt-25-Order-re-Officers-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Dkt-25-Order-re-Officers-Motion-to-Dismiss<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Part Two:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Addressed:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Municipal liability against the Town of Prosper<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll admit\u2014when I heard the chief was cleared, my heart sank. I assumed the Town would be cleared as well. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ruling:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The motion to dismiss the municipal liability claim was <strong>denied<\/strong>.<br><em>This means we can also move forward with that part of the lawsuit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Dkt-26-Order-re-Town-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Dkt-26-Order-re-Town-Motion-to-Dismiss<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>ll of this came out on Friday, May 30th, and I haven\u2019t had a chance to meet with my lawyers yet. Needless to say, it was great news for me! There are still some hurdles to overcome \u2014 such as possible appeals \u2014 but it\u2019s still a major win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the Chief\u2019s motion to dismiss was granted, this still marks a significant setback for the Town. So, how many folks think the Chief of Prosper might be announcing his retirement in the near future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Case Update From time to time, folks ask me, \u201cWhat\u2019s the status of the case?\u201d That\u2019s usually followed by, \u201cWhy is it taking so long?\u201d Let me just say\u2014being involved in a lawsuit takes time. SMU began working on my case around Thanksgiving of 2022. It took nearly six months just to make the initial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>It took almost six months, but now, finally, the brief is completed! Below is the defendants counter to our last reply in this brief.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:shortcode -->\n[pdf-embedder url='https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dkt-19-Boothe-Kowalski-MTD-Reply.pdf']\n<!-- \/wp:shortcode -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Sadly, those 10 pages are full of vitriol and character attacks. My lawyer warned me before I read this, that it was pretty bad, and that. It would be hard for me to digest.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Years ago, I was a manager of one team and friend of mine was a manager of another team. He was terrible at his job to the point he was going to be replaced. Then he started just throwing his employees under the bus on everything that came back to his team. In meetings, when they were not present, he\u2019d make them out to be the worst employees ever. I learn one of my most valuable lesson to date with that.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>To take focus of yourself and wrong doings \u2013 you have to make someone else look worse. That\u2019s what is going on here. I have to be a bad guy \u2013 the villain.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>A few observations on my part. In their response We went from the impersonation of a public servant to the reality of how phishing crimes are related to probable cause.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In my previous post, I explained in simple terms,<strong><em> Phishing is the fraudulent practice of manipulating people via emails, texts, websites or phone calls into disclosing sensitive information.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Let us define what sensitive information includes: usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information or other important data to sell or leverage.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I requested no such thing. The information that I\u2019ve requested Was the number of cases open and closed, org charts, etc. I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s not considered sensitive information, since a lot of that information now exists on the town of prosperous website. It all falls into the public realm on a public information request.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Next up is my favorite quote from the above:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong><em>Plaintiff apparently has no grasp of the blatant stupidity which frequently accompanies criminal conduct; \u201cobvious misspellings\u201d do little, if anything, to alert law enforcement that the potential suspect is a self-professed lampooner of local politics.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>At first, I thought they were talking about my original requests and that maybe I misspelled something. However, that\u2019s not what they are talking about. They are pretty much saying how fucking stupid I was because I misspelled <strong>Jeff <\/strong>by using <strong>Geoff<\/strong> when I was executing my master plan of impersonating a town councilman.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Really, I have to say, that\u2019s a hard fucking sell. I mean, I can\u2019t even fathom the outright stupidity of someone actually purposing that in an actual legal brief. It\u2019s one of the most laughable things I\u2019ve seen so far.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The last thing I will comment on is this piece of text:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong><em>Under the Plaintiff\u2019s skewed world view, impersonating an elected official is somehow acceptable if done in the context of making a Public Information Act request.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>This line is a gem in itself. As everyone knows (with the exception of the Town of Prosper, Paul Boothe, and Chief Kowalski) that ANY ONE can use ANY NAME to make a public information act request.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I could use any name I wanted. However, the reason this was such a gem \u2013 is because \u2013<strong> I WAS NEVER CONVICTED OF AN IMPERSONATING AN ELECTED OFFICAL.<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>While the defendants keep attaching documents from the Prosecution, they tend to leave out the whole order by the Judge to quash this case.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>Quash<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>The purpose of filing a motion to quash is to challenge the legal sufficiency or validity of the document or proceeding in question. When a motion to quash is filed,&nbsp;the court will review the arguments and evidence presented by the party filing the motion, as well as any opposing arguments.<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The great part about my day in court when my case was quashed \u2013 the DA didn\u2019t oppose it.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Now, the Town\u2019s Motion to Dismiss (below).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:shortcode -->\n[pdf-embedder url='https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dkt-20-Town-MTD-Reply.pdf']\n<!-- \/wp:shortcode -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I have very little to comment on the Town\u2019s Motion to Dismiss. It's only seven pages and again a lot more case law.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Now we wait on the courts. There are any number of outcomes that could present themselves. This can include anything from dismissals, hearing arguments, not to dismissals, 5th Circuit Appeals, and back. At this point we just wait on the courts. I will keep everybody updated on what happens.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Leonard (Buster) Johnson &amp; Roxanna Johnson<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2581,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions\/2581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bonesnap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}