The case resumed in district court with Judge Mark T. Pittman presiding over the trial of the Wallers' claims against the city. In 2020 both parties again moved for summary judgement. The following year Pittman, calling the case "undeniably tragic", held for the city on the Wallers' claims, as the training issues they complained of were "too attentuated" to have had an effect on the shooting, particularly given Fifth Circuit precedent that limited the time period courts could examine in excessive force cases to the moments, nor could a direct relationship be shown between the city's police policies and the shooting: "Although the officers' errors and the City's failure to have a policy aimed at reducing such errors are clear and worthy of blame, they did not contribute to Hoeppner's use of excessive force ... when Hoeppner met Waller in the garage, one-on-one, early in the morning, both armed with guns, there was no time for additional training." The Wallers had also failed to show a deliberate indifference by the city to the possible adverse consequences of the policies in question. As a result Pittman did not need to reach Monell.
