Coles v. Eagle, et al, No. 11-16471 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff claimed that defendants, officers of the Honolulu Police Department, used excessive force in arresting him. The officers moved for summary judgment, arguing that their conduct was reasonable and, in any event, that they were entitled to qualified immunity. The court held that the evidence gave rise to genuine issues of fact that were material to determining whether defendants used excessive force in breaking the car window and pulling plaintiff through it. Therefore, the district court erred in granting partial summary judgment to defendants. The court also held that the trial court's jury instruction enforced an erroneous partial grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants and, as such, constituted reversible error.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s jury verdict and the district court’s partial grant of summary judgment in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in which plaintiff alleged excessive force during an arrest. The panel held that the evidence gave rise to genuine issues of fact that were material to determining whether defendants used excessive force in breaking a car window and pulling plaintiff through it. The district court therefore erred in granting summary judgment to defendants. The panel further held that the district court’s jury instruction, which instructed that defendants did not, as a matter of law, use excessive force when they broke the window and dragged plaintiff through it, enforced an erroneous partial grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants and, as such, constituted reversible error.
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