Three federal judges sided with a mechanic suing Huntsville officers for false arrest, writing in an opinion this week that Alabamians do not have to show identification when asked by the police.

Roland Edger sued the city and two Huntsville officers, alleging they wrongly arrested him outside a church four years ago as he attempted to repair a customer’s car. Body camera video shows the officers arresting Edger as he, at first, declined to show them his driver’s license.

“So to summarize, it has been clearly established for decades prior to Mr. Edger’s arrest that the police are free to ask questions, and the public is free to ignore them,” a three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous opinion issued this week.

Judge Charles R. Wilson, writing for the panel, said that Edger had not committed any crime, therefore police had no basis for arresting him. The judges also noted that Edger was not driving at the time and therefore was not required to show his license.

“Further, neither the parties nor our own research can identify any Alabama law that generally requires the public to carry physical identification — much less an Alabama law requiring them to produce it upon demand of a police officer,” Judge Wilson wrote. “There simply is no state law foundation for Officer McCabe’s demand that Mr. Edger produce physical identification.”

Edger’s lawsuit can go forward against Huntsville Officers Krista McCabe and Cameron Perillat, the judges ruled. The judges found that the officers are not entitled to qualified immunity — a legal doctrine that shields public officials from lawsuits when they are performing official duties — because they went beyond the bounds of the law when arresting Edger.

A customer called Edger in June of 2019 and told him that his wife’s red Toyota Camry had broken down at the church where she worked in Huntsville, according to federal court records.

Edger got there a day or two later, picked up the car key from the church’s front office, examined the car, and concluded that the problem may be with the steering or the tire and left.

He returned with his stepson later that evening, and the church’s security guard called 911 to report “two Hispanic males messing with an employee’s car that was left on the lot,” according to the federal court records.

Officer McCabe showed up about 30 minutes later, according to the court records.

The 40-minute video, which was released by the federal appeals court, began with Officer McCabe approaching Edger as he was jacking up a red Toyota Camry in the parking lot of Progressive Union Missionary Baptist Church on the evening of June 10, 2019. Edger’s stepson was standing nearby.

McCabe began questioning Edger. Edger told McCabe that he was fixing a car for his customer. McCabe then pointed to a black hatchback parked nearby and asked whose car it was. Edger replied that it was his.

This was followed by 30 seconds of silence as the officer watched Edger work on the car, the video showed.

“Alright. Take a break for me real fast and do y’all have driver’s license or IDs on you?” McCabe asked in the video after the period of silence. By that time a second officer, Perilllat, arrived in the parking lot, the judges noted in their opinion.

“I ain’t going to submit to no ID. Listen, you call the lady right now. Listen, I don’t have time for this. I don’t mean to be rude, or ugly, but . . .,” Edger said, as he stood up from working on the car.

“Okay. No, you need to give me your ID or driver’s license,” Officer McCabe said in the video, as Officer Perillat approached Edger from behind.

The bodycam showed Edger run his two hands over his hair in apparent frustration and said “Listen, I don’t want you to run me, uhm, for no good reason.”

“Are you refusing to give me your ID or drivers’ license,” McCabe asked in the footage.

“I am telling you, you call this lady on the phone…,” Edger began saying before the footage showed Officer Perillat grab him from behind and push him onto the car.

As Perrillat handcuffed him, Edger said two times that he would show them his ID.

“You are under arrest,” McCabe said in the footage.

“For what?” Edger asked.

“For obstruction,” McCabe replied.

“I didn’t do nothing,” Edger said as the footage showed McCabe holding him down on the vehicle.

“So if you resist any further, you’ll also get charged with resisting arrest. Do you understand?” McCabe said in the footage.

“Listen, I’ll give you my ID, I’ll tell you what is going on, this is ridiculous, I am trying to get a customer’s car here. I’m in a rush. My shop’s unlocked right now,” Edger said.

Eventually Perillat found the ID after searching Edger’s wallet. In the video, McCabe explained to Edger’s stepson that Edger was going to jail because he obstructed an investigation by refusing to give her his identification.

But the panel of appeals court judges ruled that Edger did not have to produce any identification because Alabama’s Stop-and-Identify statute only permits the officer to stop a person in public and “demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his actions,” on a reasonable suspicion of the commission of a crime.

The City of Huntsville charged Edger with “obstructing governmental operations” for refusing to provide identification but later dropped the charge. Edger sued in federal court, alleging false arrest in violation of his civil rights. A federal judge in Huntsville granted the officer’s qualified immunity and dismissed the lawsuit.

On appeal, the federal appellate judges rejected the officers’ argument that they had probable cause to arrest Edger for refusing to produce physical identification, noting that the video did not show that Edger using “physical force or interference’ to obstruct the officer’s investigation.”’

The judges ruled unanimously that Officers McCabe and Perillat are not entitled to qualified immunity, which would shield them from a lawsuit, noting that they lacked proper legal grounds to demand physical identification from Edger.

The appeal court judges ruled that the officers violated Edger’s constitutional protection against unlawful searches and seizures.

They sent the lawsuit back to federal court in Alabama.

In a statement to AL.com, the City of Huntsville said it is disappointed in the ruling. “While the City is disappointed with the decision as it currently stands, we are still in the process of evaluating the decision and considering our options,” the statement from the city’s legal department said. “Since the case remains ongoing, we will have no further comment at this time.”

Attorneys C. Gregory Burgess and Stephanie Margaret Hall from Lanier Ford law firm represented the two Huntsville City Police officers and the City of Huntsville in the case. The attorneys did not respond to request comments for this story by email, phone call, or text. Edger and civil rights attorney Hank Sherrod, who represented him in the case, declined comments for this story.

The three-judge panel included Judge Wilson, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, Judge Jill Pryor, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, and Virginia M. Hernandez Covington, who was appointed by President George Bush.

“In summary, Officers McCabe and Perillat violated Mr. Edger’s clearly established Fourth Amendment rights when they arrested him with neither actual, nor arguable, probable cause,” Judge Wilson wrote. “Because the Alabama statute, by its plain text, does not permit the police to demand physical identification, the officers lacked probable cause and thus violated Mr. Edger’s Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him.”