Casondra Pollreis v. Lamont Marzolf, No. 21-3267 (8th Cir. 2023)
Annotate this Case
Plaintiff saw Defendant, an officer, pointing a firearm at her 12- and 14-year-old sons down the street from their family’s home. When Plaintiff approached to ask what happened, Defendant repeatedly ordered her to “get back.” After Plaintiff questioned the order, Defendant briefly pointed his taser at her. Plainitff then complied with his orders. Her sons were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. Plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 action against Defendant, claiming he used excessive force. The district court granted summary judgment to Defendant on the claim after concluding he was entitled to qualified immunity. Defendant appealed.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained that Defendant was placed in a position where he had two possibly armed suspects detained in front of him and a third unknown individual approaching from behind, creating a potentially serious safety risk. Adding to the circumstances, when Defendant ordered Plaintiff to “get back,” she moved to the side, but she did not immediately comply by moving backward. Rather, she questioned the order and moved sideways. Ordered to get back a second time, she again questioned the order and remained where she was until after the taser was drawn. Accordingly, the court wrote that under the totality of the circumstances, Defendant momentarily pointing his taser at Plaintiff to gain control of the scene was not unreasonable.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Kelly, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Civil rights. In this action alleging defendant, a Springdale, Arkansas police officer, used excessive force against plaintiff when he pointed a taser at her while he was detaining her two sons, the district court did not err in granting the officer's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity; the officer briefly seized plaintiff through a show of his authority when he commanded her to move back and to return to her home; given the circumstances presented, the officer's act of momentarily pointing his taser at plaintiff to regain control of the situation was not unreasonable. Judge Kelly, dissenting.
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.