Ferreira v. City of Birmingham

Officer shot plaintiff while executing a no-knock search warrant; plaintiff sued officer under § 1983 and brought state law claims against officer and the City in negligence; jury ruled in the officer’s favor on both the § 1983 claim and negligence claim, but in favor of the plaintiff against the City on the negligence claim, awarding plaintiff $3 million in damages; Second Circuit held plaintiff’s evidence was sufficient to justify a negligence verdict against the City, despite the verdict in the officer’s favor on negligence; however, because the federal court concluded that New York state law with regard to the “special duty” rule was unclear, it certified that limited question to the New York Court of Appeals.