Smith v. Kilgore, No. 18-1040 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against defendants, alleging that they violated her son's constitutional rights when two officers used deadly force against him. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants, holding that there was no potentially admissible evidence in the record supporting plaintiff's allegations that the decedent was unarmed, did not point his gun at officers, and did not shoot at an officer. The court also held that the district court correctly ruled that the officers were reasonable in using deadly force. Therefore, the district court properly rejected the assault, battery, and wrongful death claims, as well as properly dismissed the Monell claim. Finally, because the individual officers fulfilled their constitutional obligations, the Board and the Police Chief cannot be liable for failing to train them.
Court Description: Benton, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Stras, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Civil rights. No potentially admissible evidence in this record supports plaintiff' allegations that her decedent was unarmed, did not point his gun at officers and did not shoot at an officer, and the evidence did not present a sufficient dispute to require submission to a jury; the district court did not err in finding the defendant officers' use of deadly force was reasonable under these circumstances; because the officers used reasonable force and there was no constitutional violation, the district court properly rejected plaintiff's state law claims for assault, battery and wrongful death; there is no genuine dispute that the officers promptly called for medical care and because they fulfilled their constitutional obligation, the Police Board and Police Chief could not be liable for failing to train them.
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