Mitchell v. Shearrer, No. 12-1931 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit under 1983 alleging that police officers violated his constitutional rights by arresting him in his home without first obtaining a warrant to do so. The court concluded that plaintiff demonstrated sufficient facts to show a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures; a reasonable officer would have known that at the time plaintiff tried to close the door, he stood within his home and thus could not be pulled therefrom and placed under arrest in the absence of exigent circumstances; and, therefore, the court affirmed the district court's order denying qualified immunity as to Defendant Shearer. The court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction plaintiff's cross appeal challenging the grant of qualified immunity as to Defendants Spiker and Bone where the district court has not issued a final decision and the collateral order doctrine did not apply when a party complains that the district court should not have granted summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Court Description: Civil case - Civil rights. The court did not have jurisdiction to review the district court's grant of summary judgment to two defendant police officers based on qualified immunity as the district court has not issued a final judgment in the case and the collateral order doctrine does not apply when a party complains that the district court should not have granted summary judgment based on qualified immunity; a jury could find plaintiff was in his home at the time defendant Shearrer began to effectuate plaintiff's arrest and plaintiff has set forth sufficient facts to show a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures; a reasonable officer would have know that at the time plaintiff tried to close his front door he stood within his home and could not be pulled therefrom and placed under arrest absent exigent circumstances.