The issue on appeal in Smith v. Agdeppa et. al. is whether the duty to provide a warning before using deadly force was clearly established in the 9th Circuit. This brief discusses the flawed foundations of Qualified Immunity in relation to this question.
Police shooting of undercover Oakland police officer who was holding arrestee at gunpoint, shot and killed by “friendly fire;” survived by wife and son; highly contested liability.
3 y.o. girl, survived by her father (addicted to meth and incarcerated when she died) and grandparents, killed by her mother and mother’s boyfriend, who were convicted of her torture and murder. Napa Police and County CPS social workers failed to obey their mandatory duties to investigate and report multiple reports of child abuse and neglect, in violation of state CANRA law. Federal court due process claims had been dismissed and were on appeal; state court negligence claims pending in Napa County Superior Court.
54 y.o. schizophrenic man on meth killed by restraint asphyxia in county jail, on video; CFMG medical providers failed to intervene or treat face-down, motionless decedent; Willits officers negligently aggravated decedent’s paranoia; survived by brother.
56 y.o.mentally ill man, eventually found incompetent to stand trial, was not provided adequate psychiatric care in jail while awaiting admission to State Hospital, and after repeated injuries from being bullied by other inmates, was housed with a dangerous cellmate who beat him to death; survived by wife, son, and mother.
Video-recorded beating of 28 y.o. meth. addicted man, with multiple arrests for drug sales, who was captured by deputies after high speed pursuit over the Bay Bridge. Deputies beat Plaintiff with batons for minutes. Two deputies were fired and criminally charged with felonies. Plaintiff sustained multiple crushing hand fractures, concussion, and scalp lacerations from multiple head strikes by deputies’ batons. Plaintiff faced unrelated federal charges at time of settlement.
Settlements and verdicts in related cases for 44 African-American men, many accused of drug dealing, strip searched on the street by Oakland police officers pursuant to custom and written strip search policy. Settlement reached after verdicts in favor of two test plaintiffs. (No deaths).
Police severely fractured ankle of 34 y.o. mother, on video, while unlawfully forcing entry to her home; plaintiff required three surgeries and developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS),causing constant pain, weakness, loss of mobility, and likely permanent disability.
Death in jail of 50-year-old, unemployed, alcoholic man, survived by four adult children. Non-economic damages only. Defendant Corizon Health, Inc., was deliberately indifferent to inmate’s medical needs by failing to place him on alcohol detox protocols and allowing him to go into severe alcohol withdrawal; then when inmate was hallucinating with Delirium Tremens, 10 deputies beat and Tased him to death.
Healthy, 40 y.o. man had a bad reaction to illegal drugs he took while in jail, denied adequate medical care for his drug-related psychosis, sustained spinal and head trauma of unknown origin, then jailors dragged him to a safety cell when he could not walk due to a spine fracture, at the direction of a nurse employed by a private jail medical provider. He was left face-down, paralyzed, on the floor of a safety cell for six hours with an untreated subdural hematoma. Plaintiff sustained quadriplegia, requiring life-long care.