Overview
- In a federal complaint filed Oct. 31 in the Middle District of Florida, Christian and Bridget Ziegler name the City of Sarasota and detectives Angela Cox and Maria Llovio, alleging violations of their Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
- The suit claims investigators withheld exculpatory information from a judge, used overbroad digital search warrants, and placed private marital communications into public reports.
- The 2023 investigation began after a rape allegation, yet Sarasota police later determined the encounter was likely consensual and no criminal charges were filed against Christian Ziegler.
- Court testimony described the seizure of more than 250,000 photos, 30,000 videos, and 12,000 texts from Ziegler’s devices, and Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll previously ruled the full phone download improper.
- The Zieglers seek compensatory damages for lost wages and attorneys’ fees and punitive damages for emotional harm, while the city and police are reviewing the lawsuit with no substantive response filed yet.