Amador v. Vasquez, No. 17-51001 (5th Cir. 2020)
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After Deputies Vasquez and Sanchez shot and killed Gilbert Flores, Flores's estate filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging that the deputies violated Flores's Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force. The district court denied the deputies' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
The Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that genuine issues of material fact exist. Therefore, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the appeal and dismissed. In this case, a reasonable officer would have understood that using deadly force on a man holding a knife, but standing nearly thirty feet from the deputies, motionless, and with his hands in the air for several seconds, would violate the Fourth Amendment.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on June 4, 2020.
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