Lawsuit claiming Columbia deputy used excessive force by deploying K-9 dismissed

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit where a Lake City man claimed his constitutional rights were violated.

Action News Jax first told you in June 2022 when Martinezz Bowman sued the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The suit stemmed from an incident in which a deputy deployed his K-9 after a traffic stop involving Bowman in Lake City in October 2020.

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In his suit, Bowman claimed CCSO lacked probable cause to arrest him for DUI, and resisting arrest; and also that the use of the K-9 officer was an excessive use of force.

He claimed he needed four surgeries on his leg from injuries resulting from the dog bite.

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In August 2022, Bowman was found not guilty of all the charges he was facing connected to the 2020 traffic stop.

Bowman was represented by John Phillips of Phillips & Hunt of Jacksonville.

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Sheriff Mark Hunter, Deputy David Harvey, and Deputy Jayme Gohde were represented by Michael Spellman and Dawn Pompey Whitehurst of Sniffen & Spellman, P.A., of Tallahassee.

Read the full dismissal of the suit below:

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