Raines v. Burningham, No. 16-4141 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe guardian of John Raines IV's estate filed suit against defendants after Raines was shot at twenty-one times and became paralyzed from his gunshot injuries. The Eighth Circuit dismissed defendants' appeal from the district court's denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court held that, while it had jurisdiction to determine whether conduct constituted a violation of clearly established law, it lacked jurisdiction to determine whether evidence could support a finding that a particular conduct occurred at all. In this case, whether the officers reasonably believed Raines posed a sufficient threat depended on what occurred, and the district court was unable to make this determination based on the evidence presented. Therefore, the court lacked jurisdiction to determine the key factual question about whether Raines advanced on the officer just before being shot.
Court Description: Erickson, Author, with Chief Judge Smith and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - civil rights. In this interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified immunity on question whether there was a genuine dispute as to whether officers had probable cause to suspect that Raines posed a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to others, this court has authority to decide the purely legal issue of whether the facts alleged are a violation of clearly established law, but not when the denial is premised on a determination that the pretrial record sets forth a genuine issue of fact for trial. Here, the court lacks jurisdiction to determine the key factual question about whether Raines advanced on the officer just before being shot. Appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
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