Franklin v. Peterson, No. 16-4429 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAfter Walter Louis Franklin, II was shot to death by officers, his estate filed suit against defendants under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging claims of excessive force, wrongful death, and negligence. On appeal, the officers challenged the denial of qualified immunity. The Eighth Circuit dismissed the appeal based on lack of jurisdiction, holding that qualified immunity did not prevent suit in this case because the precise question for trial was the factual question, an issue which was inseparable from, and necessarily informed, the legal one. The court explained that factual arguments made by the officers on appeal regarding materiality and sufficiency should be made to a jury and did not run to a legal issue on appeal.
Court Description: Beam, Author, with Loken and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. In this appeal by police officers from the denial of their motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity in plaintiffs' excessive force and wrongful death action, the factual arguments made by the officers on appeal regarding materiality and sufficiency are jury matters and do not run to a legal issue on appeal; accordingly under Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304 (1995), qualified immunity does not prevent suit here because the precise question for trial is the factual question, an issue which is inseparable from, and necessarily informs the legal one; the district court properly determined that the summary judgment record raised a genuine issue of material fact concerning whether the officers faced a threat of bodily injury sufficient to support the use of deadly force; the district court's determination was not a final decision, and the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Judge Loken, dissenting.
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