“[A] court is to apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in man- ifest injustice . . . .”
How later courts described this case
- “[A] court is to apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in man- ifest injustice . . . .”
- “[T]he ‘clearly established’ inquiry . . . asks whether the preexisting law was so clear that, given the specific facts facing a particular officer, one must say that ‘every reasonable official would have understood that what he is doing violates’ the Constitutional right at issue.”
- “We have repeatedly stressed that courts must not ‘define clearly established law at a high level of generality, since doing so avoids the crucial question whether the officer acted reasonably in the particular cir- cumstances that he or she faced.’”
- “[A] court cannot . . . ‘narrow’ the totality-of-the circumstances inquiry, to focus on only on a single moment. It must look too, in . . . all excessive-force cases, at any relevant events coming be- fore.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
USCA11 Case: 25-10957 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/12/2026 Page: 1 of 18
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 25-10957
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
WILLIAM MARTIN,
MICHAEL MARTIN,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
versus
MIAMI DADE COUNTY,
a Florida County and Political Subdivision,
of the State of Florida,
Defendant.
MAURICIO DURAN,
Miami-Dade County Police Office,
in his individual and official capacity,
BRIDGET DOYLE,
Miami-Dade County Police Office,
in her individual and official capacity,
Defendants-Appellants.
USCA11 Case: 25-10957 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/12/2026 Page: 2 of 18
2 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 1:20-cv-22107-PCH
____________________
Before JORDAN, ABUDU, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Two brothers, Michael and William Martin (the “Martins”),
sued Lieutenant Mauricio Duran and Officer Bridget Doyle for
stopping and arresting them on January 10, 2018. Following dis-
covery, the Officers moved for summary judgment, and they now
appeal the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to Lieuten-
ant Duran for his stop of both brothers and to Officer Doyle for her
second taser deployment on William. For the reasons discussed
below, we reverse the district court’s denial of summary judgment
to Lieutenant Duran as to the unlawful stop and we affirm the dis-
trict court’s denial of qualified immunity to Officer Doyle as to her
second taser deployment.
I
This is the Officers’ second qualified immunity appeal. In
resolving their first—an appeal from an order on a motion to dis-
miss—we recounted the facts alleged in the amended complaint in
the light most favorable to the Martins, and affirmed the district
court’s partial denial of qualified immunity at the Rule 12(b)(6)
stage. See Martin v. Miami Dade Cnty., No. 23-10841, 2024 WL
1434329 (11th Cir. Apr. 3, 2024). Rather than recant those specific
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 3
allegations again, we refer to our prior decision and supplement
with the summary judgment record as needed.
II
Relevant to this appeal are Lieutenant Duran’s initial stop of
both brothers and Officer Doyle’s second use of a taser on William.
The district court denied qualified immunity as to both incidents.
In Count I of their amended complaint, the Martins brought
a “false arrest/false imprisonment” claim against both Officers un-
der 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a portion of which involved allegations of an
unlawful stop. At the summary judgment stage, the district court
ruled that Lieutenant Duran was not entitled to qualified immunity
because there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he
had arguable reasonable suspicion to stop the Martins. See D.E. 143
at 8–11.
In so ruling, the district court first identified several facts not
in dispute. Lieutenant Duran observed the Martins walking
around 2:49 a.m., wearing backpacks and dark-colored clothes,
through the parking lot of a government complex located in a high-
crime area, where all buildings except the police station were
closed. Located nearby were unattended government-owned ve-
hicles and a library book-drop box that could be used at that time
of day. See id. at 9–10. The court then determined that an addi-
tional material fact remained in dispute: whether the Martins con-
cealed themselves or attempted to evade Lieutenant Duran when
he made his presence known. See id. at 10. And it concluded that
“whether . . . Duran violated Plaintiffs’ clearly established rights by
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4 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
stopping them depends upon whether Plaintiffs concealed them-
selves or attempted to evade . . . Duran, or simply refused to coop-
erate with him.” Id. at 11. Thus, the court denied summary judg-
ment to Lieutenant Duran on Count I as to the unlawful stop.
Lieutenant Duran appeals that ruling.
Officer Doyle, for her part, arrived on the scene after Lieu-
tenant Duran stopped the Martins. She tased William twice, and
he alleged that this constituted excessive force in Count II of the
amended complaint.
The district court, construing the record and bodycam foot-
age in William’s favor, explained that Officer Doyle first tased Wil-
liam while Michael was struggling on the ground with Lieutenant
Duran; that Officer Doyle ordered William to back up from the
struggle; that William reached toward Lieutenant Duran and
placed his left hand on the Lieutenant’s left arm; that William had,
moments before, pulled his arm from Lieutenant Duran’s grip; and
that Officer Doyle did not know what William’s intention was
when William was bent over Lieutenant Duran. See D.E. 143 at 20.
Citing these facts, the court granted qualified immunity to Officer
Doyle for her first taser deployment against William. It reasoned
that the initial tasing constituted “reasonable force used to subdue
an individual who posed an immediate threat and was not comply-
ing with police instructions.” Id. at 21.
In contrast, the district court ruled that Officer Doyle was
not entitled to qualified immunity for the second deployment of
her taser on William because, once the first tase brought him to the
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 5
ground, he was screaming in pain, lying with his arms extended
over his torso, and no longer a threat to the officers. See id. At that
point, the court reasoned, “a reasonable jury could find that [her]
decision to continue tasing . . . William when he was no longer an
active threat nor resisting was excessive.” Id. Officer Doyle appeals
that ruling.
III
We first address our appellate jurisdiction. The Martins ar-
gue that we lack jurisdiction to review this interlocutory appeal be-
cause the officers do not identify a legal issue separate from the
merits and, instead, challenge the district court’s findings on the
sufficiency of the evidence supporting their claims. We disagree.
“Generally, we may only hear appeals from a district court’s
final order.” Aguirre v. Seminole Cnty., 158 F.4th 1276, 1291 (11th
Cir. 2025) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1291). An exception exists, however,
in certain qualified-immunity cases. See id. As we have explained,
“we have interlocutory jurisdiction over legal issues that are the
basis for a denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity
grounds.” Cottrell v. Caldwell, 85 F.3d 1480, 1484 (11th Cir. 1996)
(collecting cases). “The denial of qualified immunity is ‘purely le-
gal where it concerns only the application of established legal prin-
ciples to a given set of facts,’ which enables appellate jurisdiction[.]”
Koch v. Rugg, 221 F.3d 1283, 1296 (11th Cir. 2000) (quoting Steadman
v. Texas Rangers, 179 F.3d 360, 365 (5th Cir. 1999) (internal citation
omitted)). In contrast, “[w]e lack interlocutory jurisdiction ‘where
the only issues appealed are evidentiary sufficiency issues.’” English
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6 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
v. City of Gainesville, 75 F.4th 1151, 1155 (11th Cir. 2023) (citing Cot-
trell, 85 F.4th at 1484). And, “when the appeal implicates both an
issue of fact and an issue of law[,]” we retain jurisdiction. Aguirre,
158 F.4th at 1291. In determining our appellate jurisdiction, our
review is de novo. See id. at 1292.
Citing Barnes v. Felix, 605 U.S. 73 (2025), which was issued
after the district court’s order, Officer Doyle argues that the district
court improperly denied her qualified immunity for her second
taser employment. Specifically, she contends that the district court
erred by analyzing only the circumstances that existed in the mo-
ment that she employed the taser the second time instead of more
generally considering the events leading to that deployment.
Whether the court erred by applying a narrower standard than per-
mitted in Barnes to deny qualified immunity is a legal question for
which we have jurisdiction. See Prospero v. Sullivan, 153 F.4th 1171,
1181 (11th Cir. 2025) (exercising jurisdiction over appeal where the
defendants “argue[d] that the district court failed to apply the cor-
rect legal standards governing qualified immunity”).
As to Lieutenant Duran, we also have appellate jurisdiction.
He contends that he did not violate clearly established law by stop-
ping the Martins and, as a result, is entitled to qualified immunity.
He argues, for example, that our decision in United States v.
Briggman, 931 F.2d 705 (11th Cir. 1991), could reasonably have led
him to believe that the stop was lawful. Whether Lieutenant Du-
ran’s stop of the Martins violated clearly established law is an issue
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 7
over which we can exercise jurisdiction. See Jackson v. City of At-
lanta, 97 F.4th 1343, 1352, 1355–60 (11th Cir. 2024) (exercising ap-
pellate jurisdiction over “the issue of whether the law was clearly
established that [the officer] lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the
vehicle in which [the plaintiff] was riding”).
IV
Having confirmed our jurisdiction, we proceed to the mer-
its. “[E]ach defendant is entitled to an independent qualified-im-
munity analysis as it relates to his or her actions and omissions.”
Alcocer v. Mills, 906 F.3d 944, 951 (11th Cir. 2018). “[I]n considering
whether each officer is entitled to summary judgment based on
qualified immunity, we review de novo.” Aguirre, 158 F.4th at 1297.
In analyzing qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage,
we of course resolve any conflicts in the evidence in favor of the
Martins. See Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U.S. 650, 656–67 (2014).
A
We turn, first, to Officer Doyle. She contends that the dis-
trict court improperly denied her qualified immunity as to her sec-
ond taser deployment on William. Specifically, she argues that the
court’s temporal view of the second deployment was too narrow
because it focused only on William’s conduct at the instant that
Officer Doyle pressed the trigger on the taser for the second time
(rather than also considering the events leading to that deploy-
ment). She maintains that under the totality of circumstances,
properly viewed, the force she used was reasonable. Additionally,
Officer Doyle argues that, even if “William persuasively argue[s]
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8 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
that [her] conduct violated the Fourth Amendment, she is never-
theless entitled to qualified immunity” because “[t]he violative na-
ture of her particular conduct was not clearly established.” Appel-
lants’ Br. at 51.
As support for her argument that her second taser deploy-
ment was reasonable, Officer Doyle cites the Supreme Court’s
2025 decision in Barnes. There, the Supreme Court rejected the so-
called moment-of-threat rule, under which a court “looks only to
the circumstances existing at the precise time an officer perceived
the threat inducing him to shoot.” 605 U.S. at 76. That approach,
the Supreme Court held, “improperly narrow[s] the requisite
Fourth Amendment analysis.” Id. The Supreme Court explained:
“To assess whether an officer acted reasonably in using force, a
court must consider all the relevant circumstances, including facts
and events leading up to the climactic moment.” Id. See also id. at
83 (“[A] court cannot . . . ‘narrow’ the totality-of-the circumstances
inquiry, to focus on only on a single moment. It must look too, in
. . . all excessive-force cases, at any relevant events coming be-
fore.”).
Although Barnes was decided after the district court issued
its order, it applies here. See Bradley v. Sch. Bd. of City of Richmond,
416 U.S. 696, 711 (2006) (“[A] court is to apply the law in effect at
the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in man-
ifest injustice . . . .”) (citing United States v. Schooner Peggy, 5 U.S. (1
Cranch) 103 (1801)). So we consider that case and our precedent in
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 9
reviewing the record, including Officer Doyle’s body camera foot-
age, and in concluding that Officer Doyle is not entitled to qualified
immunity on Count II as to her second taser deployment on Wil-
liam.
“Under Graham v. Connor, objectively unreasonable uses of
force violate the Fourth Amendment.” Teel v. Lozada, 99 F.4th
1273, 1282 (11th Cir. 2024) (citing 490 U.S. 386, 397 (1989)). “De-
termining whether the force used to effect a particular seizure is
‘reasonable’ under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful bal-
ancing of ‘the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual’s
Fourth Amendment interests’ against the countervailing govern-
mental interests at stake.” Graham, 490 U.S. at 397 (quoting Ten-
nessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 8 (1985)) (internal quotation omitted).
“The test for objective reasonableness ‘depends on the “facts and
circumstances of each particular case, including the severity of the
crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to
the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resist-
ing arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”’” Teel, 99 F.4th
at 1282 (citing Helm v. Rainbow City, 989 F.3d 1265, 1273 (11th Cir.
2021) (quoting Graham, 490 U.S. at 396)). “We have also high-
lighted other factors for consideration, including: ‘the need for ap-
plication of force, the relationship between the need and amount
of force used, and the extent of the injury inflicted by the arresting
officer.’” Id. (citing Helm, 989 F.3d at 1273).
“Since at least 2014, this Circuit has found that officers can-
not continue to use gratuitous force on an individual who does not
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10 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
pose a threat to officers’ safety, even if that individual previously
posed a threat.” Castro-Reyes v. City of Opa-Locka, 166 F.4th 886, 903
(11th Cir. 2016) (collecting cases). Likewise, we have held that the
subsequent tases of immobilized persons or motionless suspects
can constitute excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. See,
e.g., Helm, 989 F.3d at 1276; Piazza v. Jefferson County, 923 F.3d 947,
954–55 (11th Cir. 2019); Oliver v. Fiorino, 586 F.3d 898, 905–07 (11th
Cir. 2009).
Barnes and our precedent, as discussed, require us to “con-
sider all the relevant circumstances” when assessing if an officer
acted reasonably in using force. 605 U.S. at 76. Officer Doyle first
tased William when he reached toward Lieutenant Duran, who
was then on top of his brother Michael. See Body Camera at
2:51:08–09. When he was tased, William screamed in pain; fell on
his back; landed on top of Lieutenant Duran; rolled down Lieuten-
ant Duran’s back and legs; and landed on the street. See id. at
2:51:08-2:51:12. There he laid, on his back with both arms extended
over his torso, still screaming in pain, when Officer Doyle tased
him for a second time. Id. at 2:51:13. During that period, there had
been no change in circumstances between Lieutenant Duran and
Michael. See id. Based on our review of the record, nothing oc-
curred in the time leading up to the first taser deployment that
would go towards justifying the second taser use. Nothing about
the stop itself suggested multiple tase uses would be necessary, and
neither did the activity leading up to the first tase. Lieutenant Du-
ran initially had told Officer Doyle to “tase him, tase him, tase
him,” referring to William. Id. at 2:51:03–05. Officer Doyle, for her
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 11
part in the time leading up to the tasing, told William to “get away
from him, you piece of sh**,” id. at 2:51:01–02, and to “get the f**k
out of here,” id. at 2:51:06, before asking him to “back up,” id. at
2:51:08.
Ultimately, based on our review of the totality of circum-
stances—including but not limited to that William was not resist-
ing and did not pose an immediate threat to officer safety at the
time of the second tase—Officer Doyle is not entitled to qualified
immunity for tasing William a second time. See Glasscox v. City of
Argo, 903 F.3d 1207, 1219 (11th Cir. 2018) (“In light of this clearly
established law [in the Eleventh Circuit], no objectively reasonable
officer in Officer Moses’s position [in July of 2014] could have
thought it was lawful to use a taser repeatedly on an arrestee who
was not resisting, even if that arrestee had previously offered re-
sistance and was not yet restrained.”).
Thus, we affirm the portion of the order denying qualified
immunity to Officer Doyle on Count II as to the second taser de-
ployment.
B
We turn next to Lieutenant Duran. The Martins allege in
Count I that they were unlawfully stopped by Lieutenant Duran.
The district court, as noted above, determined that whether Lieu-
tenant Duran violated the Martins’ clearly established rights by
stopping them depended on a genuine dispute of a material fact—
namely, whether the Martins concealed themselves or attempted
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12 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
to evade the lieutenant. The court denied summary judgment to
Lieutenant Duran as to the unlawful stop.
“[A]n officer may, consistent with the Fourth Amendment,
conduct a brief, investigatory stop when the officer has a reasona-
ble, articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.” Illinois v.
Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (2000) (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30
(1968)). “While ‘reasonable suspicion’ is a less demanding standard
than probable cause and requires a showing considerably less than
preponderance of the evidence, the Fourth Amendment requires
at least a minimal level of objective justification for making the
stop.” Id. (citing United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7 (1989)). The
officer must have a “particularized and objective basis for suspect-
ing criminal wrongdoing.” District of Columbia v. R.W., 608 U.S. __,
2026 WL 1052344, at *2 (April 20, 2026) (internal quotation marks
and citation omitted).
“A law enforcement official who reasonably but mistakenly
concludes that reasonable suspicion is present is still entitled to
qualified immunity. When an officer asserts qualified immunity,
the issue is not whether reasonable suspicion existed in fact, but
whether the officer had ‘arguable’ reasonable suspicion to support
an investigatory stop.” Jackson v. Sauls, 206 F.3d 1156, 1165–66
(11th Cir. 2000) (citations omitted). See also Meshal v. Comm’r, Ga.
Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 117 F.4th 1273, 1287–88 (11th Cir. 2024); Whit-
tier v. Kobayashi, 581 F.3d 1304, 1308–09 (11th Cir. 2009).
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 13
“If an official was acting within his discretionary authority,
the plaintiff must establish that the official is not entitled to quali-
fied immunity by showing the official’s conduct (1) violated a con-
stitutional right (2) that was clearly established at the time of the
official’s conduct.” Martin, 2024 WL 1434329, at *3 (citing Roberts
v. Spielman, 643 F.3d 899, 904 (11th Cir. 2011)). We are “permitted
to exercise [our] sound discretion in deciding which of the two
prongs of the qualified immunity analysis should be addressed first
in light of the circumstances in the particular case at hand.” Pearson
v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 236 (2009). We start here with the second
prong.
“For a constitutional right to be clearly established, ‘existing
precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional ques-
tion confronted by the official beyond debate.’” Martin, 2024 WL
1434329, at *3 (quoting Plumhoff v. Rickard, 572 U.S. 765, 779
(2014)). “Because only clearly established law gives an officer ‘fair
notice that her conduct was unlawful,’ the Supreme Court has held
that the contours of the constitutional right at issue ‘must be suffi-
ciently clear [so] that a reasonable officer would understand that
what he is doing violates that right.’” Crocker v. Beatty, 995 F.3d
1232, 1240 (11th Cir. 2021) (internal citations omitted) (quoting
Brosseau v. Haugen, 543 U.S. 194, 198 (2004) and Hope v. Pelzer, 536
U.S. 730, 739 (2002)).
“A right may be clearly established in one of three ways: (1)
‘case law with indistinguishable facts clearly establishing the con-
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14 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
stitutional right’; (2) ‘a broad statement of principle within the Con-
stitution, statute, or case law that clearly establishes a constitu-
tional right’; or (3) ‘conduct so egregious that a constitutional right
was clearly violated, even in the total absence of case law.’” Baxter
v. Roberts, 54 F.4th 1241, 1263 (11th Cir. 2022) (citing Lewis v. City of
West Palm Beach, 561 F.3d 1288, 1291–92 (11th Cir. 2009)). “[T]he
second and third paths are rarely-trod ones,” however, since “the
Supreme Court has warned us not to ‘define clearly established law
at a high level of generality.’” See Crocker, 995 F.3d at 1240 (quoting
Plumhoff, 572 U.S. at 779). Given their rarity, “if a plaintiff cannot
show that the law at issue was clearly established under the first . .
. method, that usually means qualified immunity is appropriate.”
Hughes v. Locure, 166 F.4th 121, 128 (11th Cir. 2026) (quoting King
v. Pridmore, 961 F.3d 1135, 1146 (11th Cir. 2020)). 1
Under the first method of demonstrating clearly established
law, a plaintiff must point to “materially similar precedent from the
Supreme Court, this Court, or the highest state court in which the
case arose.” Gates v. Khokhar, 884 F.3d 1290, 1296 (11th Cir. 2018).
“The prior case ‘need not be directly on point,’ but it ‘must have
placed the constitutional question beyond debate.’” Baxter, 54
F.4th at 1263 (quoting Wade v. United States, 13 F.4th 1217, 1226
(11th Cir. 2021)). And, we have said, it must involve “a violation
based on materially similar facts.” Id. (citing Cantu v. City of Dothan,
1 But not always. See, e.g., Gilmore v. Ga. Dep’t of Corr., 144 F.4th 1246, 1258,
1264 (11th Cir. 2025) (en banc) (denying qualified immunity for a strip search
of a prison visitor under the obvious clarity method).
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 15
974 F.3d 1217, 1232 (11th Cir. 2020)). “[P]ut simply[,]” the question
is “whether the officer would know after reading prior case A that
what he was doing in instant case B was against the law.” Id.
The district court here did not identify a case involving “a
violation based on materially similar facts.” Id. (citing Cantu, 974
F.3d at 1232). The court relied on Briggman, which we decided in
1991, but that case involved the constitutionally permissive behav-
ior of a police officer—not a “violation.” 931 F.2d at 709. And alt-
hough the Martins cite other cases, including some in their re-
sponse to the summary judgment motion below, none demon-
strate clearly established law. Many of the cited cases, for example,
are from Florida district courts of appeal, which are insufficient to
constitute clearly established law for federal qualified immunity
cases. See Gates, 884 F.3d at 1296. See also D.E. 135 at 10–11. And
the other cited cases are materially distinguishable. See, e.g., Reid v.
George, 448 U.S. 438, 441 (1980) (finding no reasonable suspicion
where the circumstances in part “describe[d] a very large category
of presumably innocent travelers” at the airport); United States v.
Smith, 799 F.2d 704, 707 (11th Cir. 1986) (finding no reasonable sus-
picion to stop a car where the occupants “matched a few nondis-
tinguishing characteristics contained on a drug courier profile and,
additionally, because [the officer] was bothered by the way the
driver of the car chose not to look at him”); Jessup v. Miami-Dade
Cnty., 440 F. App’x 689, 694 (11th Cir. Sept. 2011) (holding that of-
ficers had no basis to prolong a Terry stop once they learned that
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16 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
no basketball had been stolen, which was the basis of their investi-
gation).2
We turn next to the second method of demonstrating clearly
established law, under which the Martins must identify a “broad
statement of principle within the Constitution, statute, or case law”
that clearly establishes a constitutional right in this situation. See
Baxter, 54 F.4th at 1268 (quotation and citation omitted). On ap-
peal, the Martins do not argue that a particular principle clearly es-
tablishes their constitutional right to not be stopped in the circum-
stances at issue here. Under a liberal reading, we might read their
brief as relying on the principle that “[u]nder the Fourth Amend-
ment, an individual has a right to be free from unreasonable
searches and seizures.” Appellees’ Br. at 26 (citing Stephens v. De-
Giovanni, 852 F.3d 1298, 1318–19 (11th Cir. 2017) (quotation omit-
ted)). That principle, however—or a variation as cited in their
2 Our prior decision in this case, affirming in part the denial of the motion to
dismiss, does not constitute law of the case because of the different undisputed
facts that were later revealed during discovery. See Oladeinde v. City of Birming-
ham, 230 F.3d 1275, 1288 (11th Cir. 2000) (“[W]e may reconsider an issue al-
ready decided by this court in the same case if, since the prior decision, new
and substantially different evidence is produced[.]”); United States v. Schwarz-
baum, 127 F.4th 259, 287 (11th Cir. 2025) (explaining that the law of the case
doctrine does not apply if there is new and substantially different evidence).
See also D.E. 104 and D.E. 136 (reflecting, as undisputed, that Lieutenant Duran
stopped the Martins in a high-crime area; had never previously seen a pedes-
trian walking down the auxiliary road or through the complex’s lots at night;
and knew that County vehicles and personal vehicles of County employees
were parked unsecured and unattended in the lots at the other end of the aux-
iliary road and that no police patrolled those lots).
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25-10957 Opinion of the Court 17
brief—is too general to demonstrate a clearly established law. See
District of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 63–64 (2018) (“We have
repeatedly stressed that courts must not ‘define clearly established
law at a high level of generality, since doing so avoids the crucial
question whether the officer acted reasonably in the particular cir-
cumstances that he or she faced.’”) (quoting Plumhoff, 572 U.S. at
779). Ultimately, such a generalized principle would not “put every
reasonable officer” in Lieutenant Duran’s position on notice that
he could not stop the Martins under the circumstances. See Baxter,
54 F.4th at 1268. See also Gates, 884 F.3d at 1302 (“[T]he ‘clearly
established’ inquiry . . . asks whether the preexisting law was so
clear that, given the specific facts facing a particular officer, one
must say that ‘every reasonable official would have understood
that what he is doing violates’ the Constitutional right at issue.”)
(citing Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 741 (2011)).
Finally, “this is not the rare case where a constitutional vio-
lation is ‘so egregious’ that it is clear ‘even in the total absence of
the case law.’” Baxter, 54 F.4th at 1268 (quoting Lewis, 561 F.3d at
1292). Cf. Gilmore, 144 F.4th at 1264 (finding the unconstitutional-
ity of a strip search of a prison visitor was of “obvious clarity”
where “[t]here was no suspicion whatsoever; the consent was co-
erced; there was no option to leave; the strip search was not admin-
istratively approved; and the strip search involved physical touch-
ing of intimate areas and a visual body-cavity inspection”). At the
very least, Lieutenant Duran had arguable reasonable suspicion for
the stop. This is so even if the Martins did not conceal themselves
or did not refuse to speak to him.
USCA11 Case: 25-10957 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/12/2026 Page: 18 of 18
18 Opinion of the Court 25-10957
The Martins have not shown that Lieutenant Duran violated
their clearly established rights by stopping them. Thus, Lieutenant
Duran was entitled to qualified immunity. We reverse the district
court’s denial of summary judgment on Count I as to that issue.
VII
We affirm the district court’s denial of qualified immunity
to Officer Doyle on Count II as to her second taser deployment.
We reverse the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to Lieu-
tenant Duran on Count I as to the unlawful stop.
REVERSED IN PART AND AFFIRMED IN PART.