Lancaster v. Board of Police Commissioners, No. 15-3769 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, Kenny Gurley's mother, filed suit alleging numerous federal and state law causes of action after Gurley was involved in a physical altercation with two officers and died. On appeal, the officers and the Board sought interlocutory review of the district court's grant in part and denial in part of summary judgment on the basis of state and federal immunity. The Eighth Circuit held that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on the 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims where the officers violated Gurley's constitutional right to be free from excessive force and the officers' actions were objectively unreasonable at the time. Furthermore, the officers were not entitled to official immunity on the state law claims where a jury could find that the officers acted with bad faith and malice. With respect to the Board, the court held that it was not entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiff's section 1983 claim. However, the Board was protected by sovereign immunity on the wrongful death claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Benton, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Civil rights. In action alleging Kansas City police officers used excessive force resulting in plaintiff's decedent's death, the district court did not err in finding the defendant officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiff's Section 1983 claims or official immunity on her state law claims; accepting plaintiff's version of the facts as true for the purposes of determining whether the officers were entitled to immunity, the decedent and his companion did not pose an immediate threat to the officers, did not actively resist arrest and obeyed the officers' commands; it was therefore objectively unreasonable for defendants to punch decedent in the face and shoot him; the constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force in these circumstances was beyond debate at the time of the incident; similarly, a jury could find that the officers acted with bad faith and malice and were not, therefore, entitled to official immunity under Missouri law; the Board of Police Commissioners was not entitled to immunity on plaintiff's Section 1983 claims, but it was protected by sovereign immunity on plaintiff's state law wrongful death claim.
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