Judge denies qualified immunity claim in Larrison lawsuit

A federal lawsuit filed by a Holton man against a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office detective will go forward after a federal judge overruled the detective’s motion to dismiss the case on grounds of “qualified immunity” in the investigation of the disappearance of one of the man’s former wives in 2001 and the death of another in 2006.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil in a ruling issued on Tuesday, Sept. 2 in federal court that a motion filed on behalf of Detective Philip G. McManigal for dismissal of the lawsuit filed against him by Rex Larrison should be overruled due to a “misstatement and omissions” in an affidavit filed by McManigal relating to a 2024 investigation into the disappearance of Larrison’s wife Yulia in 2001.

In her ruling, Judge Vratil confirmed that Larrison had successfully argued “the violation of his clearly established right to be free from an unreasonable search,” negating McManigal’s claim of “qualified immunity” in the detective’s motion to dismiss.

The “unreasonable search,” as stated by Vratil, was connected to a 2024 investigation by McManigal into the disappearance of Yulia, Larrison’s first wife, and the 2006 death of Larrison’s second wife, Elena, both natives of Russia, it was reported.

Larrison, represented by Kansas City, Mo.-based attorney Arthur Benson II, filed a civil complaint against McManigal this past March, alleging that McManigal had failed to act under “the color of state law” in seeking a search warrant that included possible charges of first-degree murder and criminal desecration against Larrison and seeking “an award of punitive or exemplary damages in an amount sufficient to punish McManigal and/or deter McManigal and others from like conduct in the future.”

Benson said he was pleased with Vratil’s ruling denying McManigal’s motion to dismiss the case, as well as the judge’s finding of “sufficient evidence” that McManigal “lied repeatedly to obtain a search warrant” in the 2024 investigation and was therefore not entitled to qualified immunity, which protects government officials from liability for civil damages in cases such as the investigation.

“The unlawful search warrant greatly disrupted Mr. Larrison and his family when the deputy spent nearly two days digging up Mr. Larrison‘s backyard,” Benson said in a statement issued Friday, Sept. 5.

Topeka attorneys Charles Branson, David Cooper and Katherine Sittenauer, who are representing McManigal in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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