Wood v. Bexar County: DWI Arrest and Civil Rights Appeal

This episode presents a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in the case of Wood v. Bexar County, Texas, decided in 2025, which affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendants. The case originated from Amanda Wood's arrest for driving while intoxicated (DWI) in 2019, where she subsequently sued the arresting officer, Deputy J. Gereb, and Bexar County, alleging various constitutional and state law violations, including false arrest and excessive force. The court provided two competing accounts of the traffic stop—Deputy Gereb's version, alleging Wood violated traffic laws and smelled of alcohol, and Wood's version, alleging she committed no violations and was arrested for refusing a field sobriety test—but noted that the post-arrest events were captured on video. Ultimately, the court determined that Deputy Gereb was entitled to qualified immunity because there was probable cause for the arrest, and Wood failed to establish any underlying constitutional violations to support her claims against both the officer and the county under Monell liability.