Wate v. Kubler, No. 15-15611 (11th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, the personal representative of James Clifton Barnes, filed suit against defendants after Barnes died from injuries he sustained while he was involved in a struggle with Deputy Sheriff Kubler. Barnes was tased five times, and at least two of those tases occurred after Barnes had ceased resisting arrest. The district court denied Kubler's motion for summary judgment, determining that Kubler's use of the Taser gun amounted to an unconstitutional use of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, that was clearly established at the time. The court concluded that the record evidence, construed in favor of plaintiff, demonstrates that Barnes was not a flight risk or a threat to the safety of the officers or the public prior to the conclusion of the tasings. In this case, Kubler's multiple tasings of Barnes, after an arrest had been fully secured and any potential danger or risk of flight eliminated, violated Barnes's clearly established constitutional right to be free from excessive force. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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