Smith v. City of Minneapolis, et al., No. 13-1157 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, as trustee for the next of kin of her deceased son, filed suit against five police officers and the city, alleging violations of the son's (1) Fourth Amendment right to be secure against unreasonable seizure, under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and (2) the Minnesota wrongful death statute, Minn. Stat. 573.02. The court concluded that Officer Devick was entitled to qualified immunity for his actions during his initial encounter with the son where a reasonable officer faced with the same circumstances would not have known that the decision to kick and hit the son in an attempt to detain him clearly violated the Fourth Amendment. The court also concluded that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity for their actions during the second encounter with the son where plaintiff failed to establish that the punches, kicks, knee strikes, and tasers they used on the son were unconstitutional. Even if the conduct was unconstitutional, it was not clearly established at the time. The court agreed with the district court's finding that plaintiff failed to demonstrate sufficient evidence showing that the officers intentionally apprehended the son in a way that they believed was prohibited by law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of official immunity and dismissal of the wrongful death claim against the individual officers. The court also affirmed the district court's dismissal of the vicarious liability claim against the city.
Court Description: Civil case - Civil rights. Where plaintiff's decedent died from cardiac arrest during his arrest by the defendant police officers, defendant officer Smith was entitled to qualified immunity as his actions in hitting and kicking the decedent was not an obvious violation of the man's rights; as the encounter continued, officers reasonably used kicks, punches, knee strikes and tasers to subdue the man and plaintiff has failed to cite any case law clearly establishing these actions were unconstitutional at the time of the incident; the district court did not err in dismissing plaintiff's wrongful death claim under Minnesota law as plaintiff failed to sow that the officers intentionally apprehended her decedent in a way they believed was prohibited by law.
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