Surratt v. McClarin, No. 16-40486 (5th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAfter Lesa Ann Surratt died as a result of complications of asphyxia due to airway obstruction by a plastic bag, her sister filed suit against defendants for excessive force, unreasonable search and seizure, violation of due process, and conspiracy, as well as Texas state-law claims for wrongful death, assault and battery, and breach of fiduciary duty. Officers had pulled over Surratt for a traffic violation and when they noticed that she put something into her mouth, they attempted to remove it. Surratt was unresponsive and having a seizure by the time the officers were able to remove her from the car. An ambulance was called and the plastic baggie was removed from her throat with forceps. Surratt died thirteen days later. The district court partially granted defendants' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court concluded, assuming without deciding that the officers' conduct violated Surratt's constitutional rights, plaintiff failed to demonstrate that the officers acted objectively unreasonabe in light of clearly established law at the time of the incident. In this case, no previous law has provided guidance regarding what was precisely reasonable and what was unreasonable regarding the use of force to an individual's throat where the individual appeared to be concealing something in their mouth. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.