Bletz v. Gribble, No. 09-2006 (6th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseOfficers went to the house at 11:40 p.m. to execute a warrant on the son, who had failed to appear on drunk-driving charges. Waiting in a breezeway, they saw the father in the kitchen and yelled to drop the gun. The father, with poor sight and hearing, asked who the officers were. An officer fired four shots. The father died. Mother and son were cuffed and detained. The district court dismissed several claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983, but held that the officers were not shielded by qualified immunity. The Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity for the officer who fired. If he shot while the man was trying to comply, as claimed by the son, he violated a clearly established Fourth Amendment right to be free from deadly force. The court reversed with respect to the officer who was not a supervisor and did not shoot. The court properly retained the mother's Fourth Amendment claims; the officers had fair notice of constitutional violations inherent in subjecting a bystander to detention, excessive in duration and manner. The district court erred in not dismissing state-law gross-negligence and intentional tort claims. Although the officers may have been objectively unreasonable, they did not act in bad faith under Michigan’s subjective standard for governmental immunity.
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