Family members who witnesses stabbing of family member who were detained against their will at police station for three hours while victim died in hospital were subject to false arrest in violation of the 4th amendment, not an investigatory detention; no qualified immunity.
Discussing history of intracorporate conspiracy doctrine in civil rights cases, noting issue is fact specific and suggesting there is no general rule, declining to reach merits in this case, affording qualified immunity because law is unclear.
Suspect ran from traffic stop, dropped gun, officer shot and killed him; whether officer saw him drop gun and whether officer reasonably believed decedent took a firing position were material factual issues that compelled denial of qualified immunity; on plaintiff’s version of facts, officer violated clearly established law by using deadly force against fleeing suspect who did not pose significant threat of death or serious physical injury.
Shooting peaceful protestor who was trespassing and obstructing a government function, standing with his hands above his head, with shotgun-propelled, lead-filled bean bags that shattered his eye socket constituted 4th Amendment violation of clearly established law; court finds allegations sufficient to support municipal liability claim, and supervisory claim for failure to intervene, as well.
Federal-holiday rule extends time for filing complaint until the next day, when last day of limitations period falls on a federal holiday.
Denying summary judgment to St. Louis, MO, officers on excessive force claim during protest where plaintiff was boxed into an intersection, pepper sprayed, arrested, and restrained with zip ties; court finds factual disputes with respect to illegal seizure and excessive force; finds factual disputes as to whether subordinate officers acted reasonably in following orders from superiors; “Subordinate police officers cannot escape liability when they blindly follow orders. Rather, their conduct while following orders must be reasonable.
Officers did not turn Terry stop into arrest by pointing their guns at subjects and handcuffing them; officers were investigating a disturbance involving a handgun and although they did not observe subjects with a gun, they lacked personal knowledge to rule them out as suspects, nor did they point guns at them for an unreasonably long time; with respect to a later arrest of one of the subjects, court concludes facts were disputed, but if plaintiff was walking away from officers when he shouted an obscenity, officer would not be entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law.
Officer who shot service dogs in plaintiff’s backyard who presented no imminent danger and were not acting aggressively unreasonably seized the animals and violated clearly established law.
Medical personnel of large, private, systematically organized, for-profit medical providers were not entitled to assert defense of qualified immunity; jail supervisors were not put on notice of a pattern of constitutional violations by two previous lawsuits.
Officers filed an affidavit containing false and misleading material facts for the arrest of plaintiff for capital murder; fact that prosecuting attorney approved affidavit would not entitle them to qualified immunity; Messerschmidt v. Millender, 565 U.S. 535 (2012) distinguished on ground that Messerschmidt did not involve a claim of a misleading affidavit.