Man ticketed for shouting expletive at Buffalo officer can sue police, appeals court rules

A man who sued Buffalo police after he was ticketed for shouting at an officer to turn on his headlights can move forward with his legal action, an appeals court ruled.

The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals last week reversed a ruling by a U.S. district judge in Buffalo who had dismissed the case, saying the officer had reasonable grounds to cite the man for a noise violation after he called out "Turn your lights on," and punctuated the remark with an expletive.

The new ruling sends the case back to district court for trial, arguing that the profane statement during the December 2016 encounter might be considered an "eminently reasonable" attempt to avert an accident.