Williams v. Holley

Plaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against a former police officer in his individual capacity, alleging that the officer used excessive force in tasing and shooting her father. The district court denied summary judgment to the officer based on qualified immunity. The district court found that the circumstantial evidence raised questions of fact regarding material aspects of the officer's account of the event. The court concluded that a reasonable juror could find that plaintiff's father had been raising his arms to defend himself from the officer's gunshots rather than attacking the officer as described. These inferences taken together would support a reasonable conclusion that the father was not the threat that the officer described and the officer's use of lethal force against the father was unreasonable. Accordingly, the court concluded that the district court did not err in denying the officer's motion for summary judgment on this claim. The court affirmed. View "Williams v. Holley" on Justia Law