Hosea v. City of St. Paul, No. 16-3613 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff-appellant David Hosea sued two City of Saint Paul police officers following what he contended was an unlawful arrest and use of excessive force. Officers responded to a 911 hang-up call, and arrested appellant at the scene. The Officers’ motion for summary judgment was granted based on qualified immunity. On appeal, Hosea argued that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on his unlawful-arrest claim because the officers did not have arguable probable cause to arrest him for either obstruction of legal process or domestic assault. Also, Hosea argued that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on his excessive-force claim because he did not commit a crime in the officers’ presence, he did not pose a threat to the safety of the officers or others, he was not resisting arrest, the officers failed to identify themselves, and he started complying before the officers exerted force. After review of the trial court record, and finding no reversible error, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Colloton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. In this excessive force suit, the district court did not err in granting the defendant officers' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity on plaintiff's Fourth Amendment claims; on the information available to them, the officers had probable cause to arrest defendant for domestic assault and were entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiff's unlawful-arrest claim; the force used to effect plaintiff's arrest did not violate his Fourth Amendment rights as it was objectively reasonable. Judge Kelly, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
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