78 results for 'cat:"Immunity" AND cat:"Police Misconduct"'.
J. Moon denies the officers' motions to dismiss claims of excessive use of force, unlawful seizure, malicious prosecution, civil assault and battery, false imprisonment and common law malicious prosecution. The driver adequately pleads the officers used excessive force on him and his mother, slamming them both on the pavement. One officer took the mother's phone and stopped it from recording the incident. The facts arise from the criminal proceedings litigated in the civilian's favor, making them sufficient allegations.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Moon, Filed On: May 28, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv54, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Land rules in favor of the police officer in a civil rights action brought by the driver arising after the officer shot him in the shoulder for failing to stop and exit his vehicle. The driver was leaving an area after bystanders identified him as the person responsible for gunfire at a block party. The officer is entitled to qualified immunity because he reasonably believed that the driver had fired the gunshots and was fleeing the scene by driving through congested traffic.
Court: USDC Middle District of Georgia, Judge: Land, Filed On: May 23, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv61, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Westmore partially denies summary judgment to San Francisco officials in a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by Joaquin Ciria, a man who spent decades in prison for a murder he did not commit. While the city prevails on a few Monell claims, the fabricated evidence-related claims proceed on the grounds that a potential jury could find that the officers involved used investigative tactics that were likely to result in bad intel and false evidence. Those officers are not shielded by immunity as a result and the case continues to the next stage.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Westmore, Filed On: May 21, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv7510, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court improperly denied the police officer immunity on excessive force claims after he knocked an intoxicated man unconscious who struck him first. The man slapped the officer first, and in response, the officer punched the man in the face four times within four seconds, fracturing his eye socket. The officer was not required to reevaluate his use of force in this brief period of time, and it was not clear at the time that his use of force was disproportionate to the man's unprovoked attack. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: May 20, 2024, Case #: 23-1321, Categories: immunity, police Misconduct
J. Vance grants summary judgment to a sheriff’s deputy, dismissing a Taser-involved excessive force claim by a 65-year-old man who emergency responders initially found “loudly snoring” in his bed after his wife called 911. He has a history of heart trouble and his wife feared he was having a heart attack. The case law cited by the elderly litigant was “not clearly established at the time of the incident,” that ”twice using a taser to gain compliance of an unsubdued, uncooperative, and disoriented person was an excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1005, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: immunity, police Misconduct
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J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court improperly denied qualified immunity to a handful of police officers involved in a deadly shooting. The shooting took place when police were responding to a reported hostage situation that ultimately turned out to be decedent having a mental health crisis, and when officers arrived on the scene and began to search his apartment, decedent advanced on the officers with a machete. In this situation, the officers had a "split second to respond to a deadly threat" being presented by decedent. It is, therefore, reasonable that the officers believed deadly force was necessary, and are entitled to immunity. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich , Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1049, Categories: immunity, police Misconduct
J. Wooton reverses the lower court's order partially granting motions of two municipal police departments, their respective police chiefs and two officers to dismiss a motorist's amended complaint alleging the officers wrongfully arrested him for disorderly conduct, and later DUI, after he made remarks on how their vehicles were parked at an apartment complex while responding to a call for a vehicle break-in. The judge committed plain error by basing her immunity decisions on common law qualified immunity principles applicable only to the state of West Virginia or its employees and agents and not on the West Virginia Tort Claims Act applicable to political subdivisions and their employees. Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wooton, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 22-428, Categories: Government, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Oldham finds the district court properly denied qualified immunity for the Houston officers. The good Samaritan was arrested after effectuating a citizen's arrest after a drunk driver crashed. He was charged with felony impersonation of an officer and spent thousands of dollars defending himself before the city dropped the charges. The Samaritan's actions were in accordance with Texas law, and the only evidence he impersonated an officer was the drunk driver’s statement that he identified himself as police. The driver was highly intoxicated and gave other, wildly inconsistent statements, and no reasonable officer could have suspected a felony had occurred. A corrected warrant affidavit could not have established probable cause. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Oldham , Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22-20621, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Young grants the city of Richmond's motion to dismiss. A group of three young women carpooled to a police brutality protest in the Summer of 2020. After the protest began escalating the trio attempted to leave but their car was stuck in standstill traffic. As they waited behind cars, protesters and police one of the three girls shouted "fuck twelve" to a group of officers. Unable to move due to the traffic the trio were stuck as a pair of officers approached their vehicle and spewed large quantities of pepper spray into the vehicles open window severely burning the women. The city is barred from the claims because they specifically tell their officers to never use pepper spray when the victim is trapped in a car.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Young , Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv737, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: immunity, Assault, police Misconduct
J. Richardson finds the lower court denied summary judgment to the arresting officers. The officers arrested a registered sex offender who left the state for a month to attend a wedding and visit friends, claiming he broke the law by failing to return forms. The officers cannot prove he acted willfully, as required because the offender kept close contact with the sheriff's office throughout in hopes of not breaking any laws. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 21-1459, Categories: immunity, police Misconduct
J. Wynn finds the lower court properly denied summary judgment to the police officer. The police were called by the mother of a 15-year-old boy who claims her son was hitting her. When police arrived, they found the teen unarmed and began approaching him as he attempted to back away before lunging toward him and tackling him to the ground. Despite one officer already tasing the teen who was on the ground, the police officer punched the teen five times in the back of the head while he lay helpless. There is still a genuine dispute over whether the officer used excessive force, thus precluding summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2115, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Davis finds the lower court properly denied a retired detective’s motion for summary judgment on a plaintiff’s claims of fabrication of evidence and malicious prosecution. The detective argues on appeal that the plaintiff fails to show a substantial evidence claim and the court erred when they denied him qualified immunity. A reasonable jury could in fact find a substantial showing of this evidence that the detective made false statements. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Davis, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-1963, Categories: immunity, False Claims, police Misconduct
J. Boomgaarden answers two certified questions from a district court regarding the duty of care from law enforcement officers during an investigation. As prior precedent has established, officers must owe a common law duty to a suspect in an investigation to do their job as "reasonable peace officers of ordinary prudence." Officers that follow that duty are also allowed to assert qualified immunity.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Boomgaarden, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: S-23-0100, Categories: immunity, police Misconduct
J. Suddaby enters judgment against a Kingston, New York, resident on his remaining false arrest and false imprisonment claims stemming from a physical altercation with his daughter’s boyfriend and dismisses the case. The court finds the remaining defendant, a SWAT team member with the local police force, had probable cause to arrest the resident based on conflicting testimony regarding the accidental discharge of a rifle during the scuffle and is also entitled to qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv104, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Dick refuses to dismiss excessive force claims against a deputy who allegedly shot a woman’s son during a police search for his twin brother. Video captured by a neighbor’s doorbell camera shows the deputy fired into the apartment even though he was not in a position to observe whether the minor had a firearm. Further, another officer can be heard asking the shooting officer if the decedent had a firearm, indicating she did not see the weapon.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Dick, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv11, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Nelson denies the police officer summary judgment on qualified immunity in the driver's complaint alleging that the police officer used a knee strike on the driver upon pulling him out of his vehicle because the officer thought that the driver had a gun. District courts in the 9th Circuit generally agree that knee strikes are an intermediate level of force at minimum, so the police officer's conduct falls under the prohibition on the use of non-trivial force against passive resistance, and the police officer knew nothing about the driver at the time to warrant any fear that would drive the use of excessive force.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv731, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Merriam finds that an interlocutory appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction in the case of a police officer who was denied qualified immunity in an excessive force action. The officer continues to assert disputed facts and presents no pure question of law for review, so he has failed to establish appellate jurisdiction.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Merriam, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-413, Categories: immunity, Jurisdiction, police Misconduct
J. Morgan denies immunity to four prison officers who allegedly violated an inmate’s constitutional right to basic hygiene and sanitation during his four-day confinement to a “dry cell.” The officers suspected the inmate stored contraband in his rectum, repeatedly ordered him to ingest laxatives, perform bowel movements in full restraints, submit to strip-searches, and undergo x-rays; however, no contraband was found.
According to the inmate’s undisputed account, he was denied a shower, not allowed to wash his hands or brush his teeth, and had to eat near an open bucket of human waste.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morgan, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2680, NOS: Prison Condition - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Frank grants the city and police officers' motion for summary judgment in the mother's wrongful death suit stemming from the locally high-profile police killing of her autistic son, Kobe Dimock-Heisler. The police officers are entitled to qualified immunity, since they had probable cause to believe that the son, carrying a knife, posed an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to others when they shot him.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2124, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Duncan finds the district court properly granted the officers' motion to dismiss. The security guard, following a heated exchange with a Houston police officer, was arrested for assault. Though a grand jury indicted the guard, the charges were later dropped, and the guard filed suit against the officers alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution and assault. The officers are entitled to qualified immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan , Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-20075, Categories: immunity, Assault, police Misconduct
J. Kleeh grants the motion of two West Virginia State troopers and a Preston County Sheriff's deputy for partial dismissal of a Kingwood man's civil rights suit. The man claims the deputy wrongfully entered a home after he called 911 seeking assistance to have his sister removed following a verbal altercation, then aided by the two troopers who arrived later on the scene, wrongfully detained and arrested him for obstruction. The two troopers are entitled to qualified immunity since they acted properly within their scope of authority as state police officers.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh , Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv83, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Milazzo denies summary judgment to a white police officer on his request for immunity from excessive force claims by two black men. They were seriously injured when he fired four shots into a silver Camaro, one of three cars that had been “doing donuts” on the lakefront. Taking together the assumptions the two men were attempting to flee the parking lot to evade arrest, were under suspicion of reckless driving - a relatively minor crime - and the officer was not in immediate harm, a jury could reasonably find the degree of force used the officer was not reasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv333, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Martinez-Olguin allows some civil rights claims to continue against the City of Antioch regarding the death of Angelo Quinto, who died after being placed in a prone restraint hold by police during a domestic dispute call. Officials are shielded by immunity regarding some of the denial of medical care claims, but the bulk of the wrongful death claims proceed because conflicting testimony and other uncertain details on the record make it unclear if the officers' use of force was justified.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Martinez-Olguin, Filed On: February 25, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv6094, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Marmolejo denies two deputies' motion to dismiss an individual's civil rights claims arising from his arrest. The deputies are not immune from the claims, and the individual sufficiently alleges his claims for false arrest, excessive force, unlawful property seizure and denial of medical care.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Marmolejo, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv48, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct
J. Wood rules in favor of the county and the police officers in a civil rights, excessive force and battery action brought by the individual arising after one of the officers tased him during his arrest. The officers' use of force was not excessive because they believed the individual was holding his girlfriend hostage. A reasonable officer could have believed that the individual posed an immediate threat of harm because he refused to cooperate with the officers and actively resisted their efforts to arrest him. The officers' use of force was proportionate and the individual did not suffer any long-term injuries. The officers are entitled to qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv94, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, immunity, police Misconduct