3rd Circuit

Clearly established in 2018 that unarmed driver who had come to a stop and did not pose a threat to safety of officers or others had right to be free from unreasonable use of lethal force.

Officer did not seize suspect, despite fact that officer intended to arrest suspect; officer neither touched nor applied physical force to suspect, and suspect did not submit to officer's show of authority, but instead suspect promptly disengaged from the conversation and jogged across the street; exchanges between officers and citizens involving no coercion or detention are not seizures and do not implicate the Fourth Amendment.

Fabrication of evidence claim requires “bad faith” by defendant, defined as formulating or submitting false evidence willfully, knowingly, or with a reckless disregard for its truth.

Suit under Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) by Muslim prisoner alleging guards interfered with his daily prayers; qualified immunity may be asserted as a defense to an RFRA claim, but based on allegations of significant, deliberate, repeated, and unjustified interference with prayer, officers would not be entitled to qualified immunity.

Plaintiff overcame presumption resulting from grand jury indictment and authorized warrants that officer acted with probable cause where complaint alleged seven discrete instances of officer intentionally, knowingly, and/or recklessly providing false information that led to prosecution.

Claim by plaintiff convicted of misdemeanor harassment alleging violation of Sixth Amendment rights to counsel, to confront witnesses, to fair trial, and conspiracy to violate civil rights by pursuing criminal case without probable cause, did not accrue until conviction was vacated upon motion, even though motion was not filed until nine years after conviction; both doctrine of malicious prosecution and Heck rule required termination of criminal case in plaintiff’s favor.

Plaintiff was shot by officer as he attempted to drive away from crash at conclusion of high-speed chase, plaintiff eluded officers and checked himself into a hospital; plaintiff was “seized” although he avoided capture; factual issues existed about whether shooting officer or others were in danger; court denies qualified immunity, concluding “a suspect fleeing in a vehicle, who has not otherwise displayed threatening behavior, has the constitutional right to be free from the use of deadly force when it is no longer reasonable for an officer to believe his or others’ lives are in immediate

Plaintiff claimed officers fabricated evidence and deliberately deceived the court by concealing evidence of other individuals who had confessed involvement with the murder and coercing and concealing other witnesses, fabricating physical evidence, and concealing evidence that supported an alibi defense; officers argued that the claimed constitutional rights did not exist at the time (1992) because Brady had not been decided; court denied qualified immunity because it found clearly established the rights to be free from being framed by fabricated evidence and perjured testimony and

Plaintiff had been convicted of murder and served several years, obtained relief on habeas corpus, then pleaded guilty to reduced charges for time served, filed civil suit challenging police misconduct that led to initial conviction; officers appealed district court’s denial of qualified immunity and denial of motion to dismiss based on Heck, and Circuit ruled that it was without jurisdiction to hear the Heck issue, which it distinguished from the issues on qualified immunity.

Officer used excessive force against pretrial detainee who had been involved in fight but had stopped fighting and was orderly and compliant, with hands behind his back, when officer struck him; gratuitous force violated clearly established 14th Amendment rights.