McComas v. Unified Gov't of Athens Clarke Cnty.

• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Georgia
• Writing for the Court: CLAY D. LAND, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA.
• Docket Number: 3:24-cv-89 (CDL)
• Decision Date: 14 January 2026
• Citation: McComas v. Unified Gov't of Athens Clarke Cnty., 3:24-cv-89 (CDL) (M.D. Ga. Jan 14, 2026)
• Parties: CAREY LENEIL MCCOMAS, Plaintiff, v. UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS CLARKE COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

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CAREY LENEIL MCCOMAS, Plaintiff, v. UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS CLARKE COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:24-cv-89 (CDL)

United States District Court, M.D. Georgia, Athens Division

January 14, 2026

ORDER

CLAY D. LAND, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department received complaints on multiple occasions that Plaintiff Carey McComas was trespassing on private property in Athens, Georgia. McComas admitted to police officers that he was attempting to adversely possess the property and had no documentation or consent from the owners to be on the property. Clarence Dake an apparent resident of the property who provided officers with a contract and a website listing him as the property manager, told officers that he wanted to ban McComas from the property for two years. When McComas returned to the property two weeks later, officers arrested him for criminal trespass. McComas asserts that officers did not have probable cause to arrest him. He brought this action against the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (“ACC”), the ACC Police Department, ACC Mayor Kelly Girtz, ACC Police Chief Jerry Saulters and ACC Police Officers Jimmy King and Caleb Cameron.^[1] Defendants filed motions for summary judgment, asserting that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on all of McComas's claims. For the following reasons, Defendants' motions (ECF Nos. 31 &amp 33) are granted as to all federal law claims against Defendants.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment may be granted only “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). In determining whether a genuine dispute of material fact exists to defeat a motion for summary judgment, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment drawing all justifiable inferences in the opposing party's favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). A fact is material if it is relevant or necessary to the outcome of the suit. Id. at 248. A factual dispute is genuine if the evidence would allow a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Viewed in the light most favorable to McComas, the record reveals the following facts.

In February of 2023, Carey McComas applied online to rent a house located at 150 Pine Lodge Road in Athens, Georgia. McComas submitted four total applications and visited the property on multiple occasions. On these visits to the property, McComas saw Clarence Dake, an apparent resident of one of the houses at 250 Pine Lodge Road. McComas Dep 37:4-14, ECF No. 31-2. Dake claimed to be the caretaker of the property located at 150 Pine Lodge Road and 250 Pine Lodge Road, which bordered each other. Id. at 37:1723. McComas and Dake never discussed having McComas rent 150 Pine Lodge. Id. at 39:1-14. When McComas did not receive any response to his rental applications, McComas conducted online research and claims he discovered that Douglas Hooker and Bradley Richards were listed as the owners of the property. Id. at 34:11-16; 40:20-25. In May of 2023, McComas called Hooker to inquire about moving onto the property. Hooker told McComas: “I'm not going to tell you you can, but I'm not going to tell you you can't.” Id. at 33:20-21. McComas also claims that he talked with Richards about moving on to the property, but Richards stated that he “d[id]n't have anything to do with the place anymore.” Id. at 40:8-11. Following these conversations, McComas moved into 150 Pine Lodge in May of 2023 without any rental agreement and immediately changed the locks to the house.

On May 15, 2023, Dake approached McComas while McComas was ripping carpet from the house. Dake questioned why McComas was on the property. McComas responded by challenging Dake's claim that he was the caretaker of the property. Dake then called the police. Officers Cameron and Lane responded to the scene and met with Dake. Dake informed Officer Cameron that Pinecrest Lodge Village, LLC, owned the property at 150 Pine Lodge Road and 250 Pine Lodge Road. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 3, Cameron May 15 Bodycam #1, 4:04-4:11; 13:11-13:20 (05/15/2023), ECF NO. 31-4.^[2] He then showed Officer Cameron a website with Dake's name and email associated with the company and the property. Id. at 15:45-15:52. Dake stated to the officers that he would like to bar McComas from 150 Pine Lodge and 250 Pine Lodge for two years. By the time Dake informed the officers of these wishes, McComas had left the property.

That night, Dake called the police, informing them that McComas had returned to 150 Pine Lodge. After arriving on the scene, Officers Cameron and Lane spoke with Dake, who informed them that another renter was moving into 150 Pine Lodge in June.^[3]Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 4, Cameron May 16 Bodycam #2, 4:51-5:30 (05/16/2023), ECF No. 31-5. Dake claimed that Advantage, a behavioral health service, would be paying rent on behalf of this renter. Id. Officer Cameron validated this information by talking on Dake's phone with a female who purported to work at Advantage, and who confirmed that Dake was the contact for the property and that a renter was planning to move into 150 Pine Lodge in June. Id. at 10:01-11:22. After the phone call, Dake again showed Officer Cameron the website listing him as the property manager and informed Cameron that he had worked in this capacity for a couple of months. Id. at 15:20-15:30; 29:42-29:47. Officers Cameron and Lane then spoke to McComas, who claimed he was legally allowed to be on the property through adverse possession. McComas failed to provide any documentation that he lived at 150 Pine Lodge and claimed his authority to live on the property came from the “common law.” Id. at 19:16-19:23. Sgt. King then arrived on the scene, and McComas admitted to King that he had no paperwork allowing him to be at 150 Pine Lodge. McComas did not point to any evidence that he told the officers that he had permission to be at the property. Dake told police that he wanted to bar McComas from 150 Pine Lodge and 250 Pine Lodge for two years and that McComas would be trespassing if he returned. Sgt. King instructed McComas to hand over the keys to 150 Pine Lodge and to contact law enforcement the next day to facilitate moving his belongings off the property.

Three days later, Officer Abdul-Meid and Sgt. Blair responded to a complaint from Dake that McComas had trespassed on the property again. As McComas was no longer on the property when the police arrived, Sgt. Blair spoke to McComas on the phone. McComas admitted that he had returned and placed items on the property. After further questioning, Sgt. Blair determined that McComas did not have any documentation or verbal consent from the owners to be on the property. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 9, Bodycam of Sgt. Blair 32:08-32:47 (05/19/2023), ECF No. 31-10. Sgt. Blair advised McComas to remove his belongings from the property or to provide documentation that the owners allowed him to be on the property. Id. at 46:00-46:17.

On May 30, 2023, Officers Cameron and Lane responded after Dake informed the police that McComas was back on the property. When talking with McComas at the scene, the officers informed him that Dake was listed on the online leasing page of the company that allegedly owned the property and reminded McComas that he had been barred from the property two weeks earlier. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 11, Cameron May 30 Bodycam 03:55-4:58 (05/30/2023), ECF No. 31-12. During this encounter, Dake also showed the officers a written agreement between himself and Pinecrest Lodge Village Land Trust, LLC. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 12, Property Management Agreement, ECF No. 31-13. This agreement stated that Dake was appointed as the company's agent and had the exclusive authority to manage the property at “150 - 250 Pinecrest lodge rd [sic].” Id. at 1. The agreement, signed by an alleged owner of the company and Dake, was notarized by Tracey Dake. Id. The officers asked McComas if he had any proof that he was entitled to be at the property. McComas, who had no documentation to support his right to be on the property, responded that Dake should provide documentation that he was an authorized representative for the property. Cameron arrested McComas for criminal trespass and transported him to the Athens-Clarke County Jail, where he later was released after posting bond.^[4]

In October 2023, the Solicitor General of Athens-Clarke County filed two entries of dismissal in the State Court of Athens-Clarke County, dropping both of the criminal trespass charges against McComas. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 17, State Court of Athens-Clarke County Entry of Dismissal and Order of Dismissal (10/03/2023), ECF No. 31-18; Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 18, State Court of Athens-Clarke County Entry of Dismissal and Order of Dismissal (10/03/2023), ECF No. 31-19. The Solicitor General concluded for each charge that “[a]lthough there was sufficient probable cause for the issuance of a warrant, the evidence is not sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. The state court made both entries of dismissal the order of the Court. Id.

In May 2024, the Magistrate Court of Athens-Clarke County, in an action to set aside a Judgment and Order for Writ obtained by Dake on behalf of Pinecrest Lodge Village Trust, LLC, entered an Order finding that Pinecrest Lodge Village Land Trust, LLC, was not the owner of the property, but rather Athens Pinecrest Village Development Partners, LLC, was the rightful owner. Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. Ex. 19, Magistrate Court of Athens-Clarke County Order (05/06/2024), ECF No....