Smith v. City of Troy, Ohio

Smith has epilepsy. He had a seizure while driving, steered into a yard, exited the car, and walked away. A neighbor called the police. Miami County Deputy Osting arrived and observed Smith, sweating, grasping a fence, and yelling, “Baby,” with his outer pants down around his knees. Osting identified himself and asked Smith to return to his car. Smith did not respond. Osting thought that Smith was under the influence of something. Osting pried Smith’s fingers from the fence. Smith pulled away. Osting took Smith to the ground with a leg sweep and fell on top of him. During the ensuing struggle, Troy Officer Gates arrived, drew his taser, and ordered Smith to put his hands behind his back. Smith did not comply. Gates applied the taser. Additional officers arrived and grabbed Smith’s legs, allowing Osting to handcuff Smith. Gates’s taser was deployed eight times, a total of 48 seconds, during the two-minute encounter. No officer informed Smith that he was under arrest. Smith testified that he drifted out of lucidity during the incident, but remembered telling Osting he was having a seizure and that he developed PTSD following the incident. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment on Smith’s federal civil rights claims; concluded that the officers used measured force and that even if individuals used excessive force, they were entitled to qualified immunity; held that municipal defendants could not be liable under 42 U.S.C. 1983 without an underlying constitutional violation; and granted the defendants summary judgment on Smith’s ADA, 42 U.S.C. 12132, claim. The Sixth Circuit reversed Osting's summary judgment on Smith’s excessive force claims and the dismissal of Smith’s pendent state-law claims but otherwise affirmed. View "Smith v. City of Troy, Ohio" on Justia Law