Nelson v. City of Davis, No. 10-16256 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseTimothy Nelson, a former student of the University of California at Davis (U.C. Davis), suffered permanent injury when he was shot in the eye by a pepperball projectile fired from the weapon of a U.C. Davis officer when U.C. Davis and City of Davis police attempted to clear an apartment complex of partying students. Nelson filed suit alleging, among other things, that Defendants violated Nelson's Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizure. The district court denied Defendants' motion for summary judgment and found that Defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity for their conduct on the night of the shooting. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) Defendants' actions amounted to an unconstitutional seizure of Nelson; and (2) the law at the time of the incident should have placed Defendants on notice that the shooting of the pepperballs under the circumstances was an act of excessive force, thus precluding a judgment of qualified immunity.
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