In July 2017, Deputy Melita, along with Deputies Patterson and Bradley, was involved in an incident where they entered Plaintiff O’Keefe’s property without a warrant during a criminal investigation. Despite O’Keefe’s explicit requests for them to leave, the deputies remained on the property, leading to allegations of unlawful search and seizure. Additionally, Deputy Melita recorded the license plate number of a vehicle at O’Keefe’s residence and conducted checks on the tag number and O’Keefe’s information. O’Keefe filed a lawsuit against the deputies and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, claiming violations of his Fourth Amendment rights. The case raised concerns about the deputies’ adherence to constitutional protections during investigations. ([casetext.com](https://casetext.com/case/okeefe-v-patterson?utm_source=openai))
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