Dooley v. Tharp, No. 15-3368 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseMichael Dooley's estate filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that a deputy sheriff used excessive force when he shot and killed Dooley. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the deputy, holding that the district court did not err in ruling that the deputy's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable as a matter of law. In this case, the deputy was responding to a potentially dangerous situation where Dooley was dressed in military uniform and carrying a rifle. Although new information came to light after the shooting that the rifle was actually a pellet gun, a reasonable officer in the deputy's position could believe that Dooley was pointing a gun at the deputies and that they were in serious risk of harm. Furthermore, the district court did not err by granting summary judgment for defendant on plaintiffs' state tort claims because the use of force was reasonable and permitted by law.
Court Description: Wollman, Author, with Beam and Murphy, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs and considering the totality of the circumstances leading up to defendant Tharp's decision to shoot plaintiffs' decedent, the district court did not err in concluding that Officer Tharp's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable as a matter of law and that he was entitled to summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds; a reasonable officer in Tharp's position could believe that the victim was pointing his gun at officers and that they were at risk of serious harm; nor did the district court err in granting defendants summary judgment on plaintiffs' state tort claims for assault and battery and negligence as the force used was reasonable and permitted under Iowa law.
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