Wins

Plaintiff sued deputy sheriffs and their supervising sergeant, alleging that the deputies had used excessive force against him.  The jury found that one of the deputies had used excessive force but that he reasonably believed that the force was not excessive.  The Ninth Circuit affirmed that verdict in a prior appeal handled by GMSR.  (Figueroa v. County of Los Angeles (9th Cir. 2016) 651 Fed.Appx. 709.)  As part of its analysis in that case, the Ninth Circuit concluded that the jury’s reasonable-belief finding “established that no constitutional right had been violated.”  The district court then granted summary judgment for the supervising sergeant on the ground that there can be no supervisory liability without a rights violation.

Plaintiff again appealed, and the Ninth Circuit again affirmed.  Agreeing with GMSR’s arguments on behalf of the sergeant, the Ninth Circuit held that the jury’s verdict did not establish that a constitutionally-prohibited use of excessive force, and that the prior Ninth Circuit opinion’s no-violation finding was “an important part of our decision and not dictum.”

Click here to read the Court of Appeals’ opinion:  Figueroa v. County of Los Angeles (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2024, No. 18-56131) 2024 WL 4003039.