20 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Wrongful Death" AND cat:"Police Misconduct"'.
J. Pechman declines to dismiss the personal representative's federal claims that the sheriff's deputy shot and killed Joshua Sarrett on Sep. 19, 2020, while Sarrett was "unarmed, intoxicated and was only suspected of being a harm to himself." The personal representative adequately alleges that the deputy's decision to seize Sarrett was unreasonable because the deputy did not investigate any crime at the time and the deputy did not ask Sarrett if he was armed.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1316, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Kleeh grants in part the motion of the Lewis County Commission and three deputy sheriffs for partial summary judgment in the deceased parolee’s estate's suit claiming the deputies caused the parolee's death, when following a foot pursuit in the course of serving a warrant for his arrest, the deputies tased, then held him face-down for an extended period until paramedics arrived. The deputies are granted qualified immunity on the estate's excessive force claims, finding it has failed to demonstrate the deputies violated a clearly established right by using their Taser to subdue the parolee, and on its Monell claim of municipal liability against the commission for violating a clear custom and practice, since prior to their apprehension of the parolee they have never been accused of either excessive force or failing to render medical assistance.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv47, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Jenkins partially grants a motion for summary judgment from an Illinois village and its police, on claims the police used fatally excessive force during an arrest. The arrestee died of choking-related injuries he sustained after swallowing a plastic bag while police were on top of him and holding him down. The court grants judgment to the police on the excessive force claim as to the allegation that they stuck a plastic bag in the arrestee’s mouth, finding it is not sufficiently backed by evidence, but allows the excessive force claim to stand regarding other elements of the arrest.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jenkins, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3236, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Kleeh denies in part the motion to dismiss a civil rights suit claiming deputies caused a man's death, after responding to a 911 call from the couple he was living with while he was experiencing a "mental health issue." The deputies allegedly tazed the nude man in the back and left him handcuffed face down on the floor of the home, causing him to go into cardiac arrest because of his obesity and inability to breathe properly. The court denies the deputies qualified immunity since the man, despite his size, was unarmed, not resisting arrest and not attempting to flee from the deputies.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv177, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. McShane dismisses the family's federal claims accusing the city's officers of allowing decedent to asphyxiate in their custody, whereupon he permanently lost consciousness and died several months later. There is no evidence that one specific officer saw the seatbelt wrap around decedent's throat and did not intervene, and there is no evidence of inexcusable negligence among the other officers.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: McShane, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv142, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
Per curiam, the circuit finds the trial court properly denied qualified immunity to the deputy in a civil rights case. The decedent died of a heart attack while detained in the back of a patrol car. The decedent was not suspected of any crime, posed no threat to anyone's safety and made no attempt to resist arrest. A deputy seized him under the mistaken assumption he was videotaping the officers. There was no evidence the deputy's actions were compelled by necessity and exigency. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 23-30253, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Pulliam finds a San Antonio officer is entitled to qualified immunity in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from a deadly police shooting. The victim in the shooting, a young woman who was walking near a school with a BB gun, may have had “no malintent” in reaching for the BB gun during a police encounter, but regardless she made a “clear, deliberate and indisputable effort to reach for it,” giving the officer probable cause for use of deadly force.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv281, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Blackwell partially grants the city and police officers’ motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a man shot and killed by police in a highly publicized incident. A Fourth Amendment excessive force claim related to less-lethal munitions is dismissed as to the officers who used lethal munitions, and a substantive due process claim is dismissed because it is subsumed in Fourth Amendment claims. The motion is otherwise denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1508, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Rothstein denies both the mother's and the county's motions for summary judgment regarding the mother's complaint alleging that the county's officers wrongfully shot and killed her son, a Black man, when he fled a sting operation meant to arrest him for selling 50 Xanax pills to an informant. The evidence that the decedent held a cellphone presents a dispute of fact as to whether the officer who fired was justified because he believed the decedent was armed or if the shooting was unjustified based on claims that the decedent held up his phone so his mother could witness the event on FaceTime. The case shall proceed to trial.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv5384, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Gilliam Jr. allows some civil rights claims to continue against Arcata officials stemming from an incident where police fatally shot a man in the back of the head while responding to reports of decedent acting strangely while walking around with a holstered gun and a briefcase. Decedent's estate sufficiently alleges that two of the officers' conduct was "outrageous," with one of the officers reportedly saying they were "just going to unload on him." Fellow officers allegedly had the chance to intervene in the shooting but did not do so, so the bulk of the claims proceed.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam Jr. , Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv4804, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
[Consolidated.] J. Ryu allows some civil rights and wrongful death claims to continue against Alameda officials stemming from the death of a man that asphyxiated after officers handcuffed him and placed their weight on him for several minutes. The city provides no argument for why decedent was detained for possible theft after investigation of that offense had ceased. Also, a reasonable jury could find that keeping decedent pinned down while handcuffed for nearly four minutes until he became unresponsive constituted lethal force.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Ryu, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv718, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Mahan grants the city's motion for summary judgment in this civil rights suit brought by the estate of a man who was fatally shot by the city's SWAT team after he refused to surrender during negotiations regarding his brandishing and firing of a handgun. Expert testimony shows that the man displayed active resistance to officers' requests and directions, putting the public in danger. It is undisputed that he fired at least one round in the middle of a park, telling a witness “it’s gonna [sic] get bad around here.”
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Mahan , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1542, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Southwick finds the district court improperly found in favor of the Pasadena police officers who restrained and tased a detainee several times during an epileptic seizure. Jail video shows that the detainee began to roll, kick and allegedly bite officers. An officer deployed her taser and the detainee got up, was tased again, then fell face-first onto the concrete floor. He died the next day at the hospital. The estate has identified clearly established law that the actions constituted excessive force and delay of emergency medical care. The record is insufficient to support a jury question on whether city use-of-force policies are too vague; summary judgment as to municipal liability was properly entered. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick, Filed On: July 18, 2023, Case #: 22-20341, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Menendez partially grants the sheriff's deputy's motion for summary judgment in the father's case against him and his employer stemming from the shooting of his son. The deputy is not entitled to qualified immunity, since his decision to shoot the son was not made objectively reasonable by the son's brief turning of his head such that a gun, pointed at his head, could theoretically have fired a bullet through the head and in the general direction of officers. A failure-to-train claim against the county is dismissed, however, since the father has not provided sufficient evidence for a factual dispute over whether the county received notice of a pattern of unconstitutional acts. The deputy and county's motions to strike a dash-camera footage exhibit is denied, and their motions to exclude two experts' reports and testimony are granted in part.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Davis, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv2474, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Slaughter finds in favor of the county for the family’s claim that deputies fatally shot the sovereign citizen via a sniper rifle after he could not hear their surrender orders. The deputies did not violate the sovereign citizen’s Fourth Amendment right, because he was armed, previously refused to comply with orders, and had a bag that was sufficiently suspicious enough for the deputies to believe that it contained a bomb.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Slaughter, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv2602, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Kleeh grants in part and denies in part the Lewis County Commission and three deputy sheriffs’ motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death suit claiming the deputies contributed to a parolee’s death when, following the parolee’s arrest on an outstanding warrant, they beat and tazed him while he was face-down on the ground. After determining the estate’s seven state clams is just one for wrongful death under different theories of liability, the court finds the deputies’ actions could be interpreted by a jury as “malicious, in bad faith, wanton, or reckless.” In addition to the finding in favor of the county on all the estate’s claims, including a federal Monell claim for the deputies’ possibly unconstitutional actions in violation of local law, custom or policy, the court finds the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity on the estate’s excessive use of force claim, determining it was not clearly established the parolee had a right not be tazed in his encounter with them.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv47, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct
J. Johnston grants the government’s motion to dismiss the estate of a Roane County man’s civil rights suit against the U.S. Marshals Service for the man’s 2020 shooting death by a Roane County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to a Marshals task force as a special deputy. The court finds, following its prior ruling the deputy was acting in his capacity with Roane County Sheriff’s Department at the time of the shooting, the estate is collaterally estopped from making a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act the deputy was in acting his role with the Marshals.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Johnston, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv426, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, police Misconduct