# Michael Dilworth v. Captain Adams

> Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · November 7, 2016 · 841 F.3d 246

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4096113

## Case

- **Full name:** Michael Anthony DILWORTH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Captain ADAMS; A R. Fales, Jr.; Lt. L. Robinson; Lt. R, Johnson; Officer Cookson; Officer Trott, Defendants-Appellees, and Ed McMahon, Sheriff; New Hanover County; Lt. Travis Robinson; Sgt. Whitmore; Officer Marino; Mr. White; Mr. Thomas, Defendants
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- **Decided:** November 7, 2016
- **Citations:** 841 F.3d 246; 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 20039; 2016 WL 6575076
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion by Harris
- **Judges:** Wilkinson, Motz, Harris
- **Cited by:** 127 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4096113

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- concluding “that disciplinary segregation of a pretrial detainee, intended as a penalty for disciplinary infractions, implicates a protected liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment and may not be imposed without due process”
- recognizing that pretrial detainees are "entitled under Bell to procedural due process in connection with any 'punishment' imposed" by detention facility, including notice and hearing
- noting that Bell excluded from “punishment” de minimis levels of imposition; finding that a pretrial detainee’s disciplinary segregation for 85 days during which time he was confined to his cell for 23 hours per day and was denied all personal contact except with attorneys and…
- noting that due process permits prisons and jails to “place inmates 6 charged with disciplinary infractions in ‘administrative segregation’ pending their disciplinary hearings, allowing both prison officials and inmates time to investigate and prepare for those hearings.”

## Opinion text

PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-6910

MICHAEL ANTHONY DILWORTH,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

CAPTAIN ADAMS; A R. FALES, JR.; LT. L. ROBINSON; LT. R.
JOHNSON; OFFICER COOKSON; OFFICER TROTT,

Defendants – Appellees,

and

ED MCMAHON, Sheriff; New Hanover County; LT. TRAVIS ROBINSON;
SGT. WHITMORE; OFFICER MARINO; MR. WHITE; MR. THOMAS,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. James C. Dever III,
Chief District Judge. (5:13-ct-03291-D)

Argued: September 20, 2016 Decided: November 7, 2016

Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published
opinion. Judge Harris wrote the opinion, in which Judges
Wilkinson and Motz joined.

ARGUED: E. Brantley Webb, MAYER BROWN LLP, Washington, D.C., for
Appellant. Scott Christopher Hart, SUMRELL, SUGG, CARMICHAEL,
HICKS & HART, P.A., New Bern, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON
BRIEF: Jason R. LaFond, MAYER BROWN LLP, Washington, D.C., for
Appellant.

2
PAMELA HARRIS, Circuit Judge:

In 2013, Michael Anthony Dilworth was a pretrial detainee

at North Carolina’s New Hanover County Detention Facility.

While awaiting trial, Dilworth spent a total of 85 days in

disciplinary segregation as punishment for two disciplinary

infractions, one arising from an altercation with another

prisoner and one from an altercation with correctional officers.

Dilworth was not afforded a hearing in connection with either of

his placements in disciplinary segregation.

Dilworth sued various Detention Facility officials under 42

U.S.C. § 1983, arguing that the imposition of disciplinary

segregation without a hearing violated his procedural due

process rights. The district court granted summary judgment to

the defendants, reasoning that due process requirements were

satisfied by Dilworth’s opportunity to file a written appeal

after he was placed in disciplinary segregation. We disagree,

and hold that as a pretrial detainee, Dilworth was entitled to a

hearing before he was punished. As the defendants concede, no

such hearing was afforded, and we therefore direct that judgment

be entered for Dilworth on his due process claim.

Dilworth also raised an excessive force claim against the

two officers involved in his second fracas. Again, the district

court granted summary judgment to the defendants, on the ground

that the record showed the officers had acted in good faith and

3
without a culpable state of mind. As the parties agree, a

subsequent Supreme Court decision has made clear that excessive

force claims by pretrial detainees are governed by an objective

standard, rather than the subjective one applied by the district

court. Accordingly, we remand for consideration of Dilworth’s

excessive force claim under the proper standard.

I.

A.

Dilworth was held in the New Hanover County Detention

Facility as a pretrial detainee. A pretrial detainee is someone

who has been charged with a crime – in Dilworth’s case, failing

to appear in court as ordered – but not yet tried. Though

Dilworth had “not been adjudged guilty of any crime,” he could

be detained pending trial in order to ensure his presence at

that proceeding. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 536 (1979).

During his pretrial detention, at 4:20 p.m. on the

afternoon of May 11, 2013, Dilworth was involved in a physical

fight with another inmate. Officer Charles Thomas, the

supervising guard, immediately placed the unit on “lockdown”

while he summoned assistance. Less than an hour later, at 5:05

p.m., Thomas filed an “Inmate Disciplinary Report” describing

the incident and stating that he had taken the “disciplinary

action” of placing Dilworth in segregation for 45 days. J.A.

4
58. By 5:30, the watch commander on duty, Lieutenant Robert

Johnson, had reviewed and approved that penalty.

Dilworth maintained that he had been disciplined in error,

as he was not the aggressor in the fight but had only protected

himself. On May 21, he filed a written appeal pursuant to the

Detention Facility’s disciplinary procedures. On May 23, two

days later and twelve days after Dilworth’s initial placement in

segregation, administrative review officer A.R. Fales dismissed

the appeal, finding that a videotape of the incident did not

make clear “who started the fight or how[.]” J.A. 55. Dilworth

ultimately was released from segregation on June 20, 2013. At

no point during his time in disciplinary segregation was

Dilworth afforded a hearing.

Shortly after his release, Dilworth was involved in a

second altercation, this one involving Officers B.M. Cookson and

A. Trott. The incident ended with Cookson using physical force

to restrain Dilworth, “throw[ing] multiple knee spears to his

legs and multiple punches to his head,” and with Trott

“assist[ing] Cookson in taking Dilworth to the floor.” J.A. 126

(internal quotation marks omitted). How the incident began is

disputed: According to the officers, force was required because

Dilworth refused to comply with orders and resisted an effort to

handcuff him; according to Dilworth, Cookson rushed him after

the two exchanged verbal insults. This incident, too, was

5
captured on video tape, but although Dilworth requested the

video in a “Motion for Production of Documents” filed with the

district court, there is no indication that the tape was turned

over to Dilworth or viewed by the district court.

Again, Dilworth was placed in disciplinary segregation

for 45 days. Again, no hearing was provided. Within five hours

of the July 5, 2013 fight, Trott had filed an Inmate

Disciplinary Report calling for 45 days in segregation as a

disciplinary action, and Lieutenant Johnson had reviewed and

approved the sanction. Dilworth once more contested his

sanction, and this time, he filed a grievance seeking a hearing

at which he suggested he would present witnesses supporting his

account of events. And Dilworth again filed a written appeal of

the disciplinary action, which was again dismissed by Fales, who

emphatically rejected the request for a hearing: “I am NOT

required to recommend a disciplinary hearing if grounds for such

do not exist.” J.A. 60 (emphasis in original). Dilworth served

the entirety of his 45-day sentence.

B.

In November 2013, Dilworth filed this pro se action under

42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleges, first, that Detention Facility

officials including Johnson and Fales violated the Due Process

Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by failing to provide

adequate procedural safeguards – and, particularly, a hearing –

6
in connection with his two disciplinary sanctions. Second,

Dilworth claims that Cookson and Trott used excessive force

against him, also in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The defendants moved for summary judgment on both claims,

and the district court granted their motion. As to procedural

due process, the district court held that because Dilworth was a

pretrial detainee, he could not be “placed in segregation as a

punishment for a disciplinary infraction” without due process.

J.A. 129 (internal quotation marks omitted). Due process was

satisfied here, the district court reasoned, because Dilworth

was provided with notice of the charges against him and

permitted to file a written appeal of his disciplinary sanction.

On that basis, the district court awarded summary judgment to

the defendants.

On Dilworth’s excessive force claim, the district court

applied a subjective standard, holding that Dilworth was

required to establish that officers Cookson and Trott had used

force “maliciously and sadistically to cause harm,” rather than

in a “good-faith effort” to maintain discipline. J.A. 130

(internal quotation marks omitted). Because no reasonable juror

could find that the officers had a “sufficiently culpable state

of mind,” the district court concluded, the defendants were

entitled to summary judgment. J.A. 131-32 (internal quotation

marks omitted).

7
Dilworth timely appealed.

II.

We review a district court’s award of summary judgment de

novo. Jehovah v. Clarke, 798 F.3d 169, 176 (4th Cir. 2015).

Summary judgment is appropriate only if “no material facts are

disputed and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a

matter of law.” Henry v. Purnell, 652 F.3d 524, 531 (4th Cir.

2011) (en banc) (quoting Ausherman v. Bank of Am. Corp., 352

F.3d 896, 899 (4th Cir. 2003)) (internal quotation marks

omitted).

A.

We begin with Dilworth’s contention that the district court

erred when it granted summary judgment to the defendants on his

procedural due process claim. The due process question presents

two related but distinct inquiries: whether Dilworth’s

placement in disciplinary segregation implicated a liberty

interest triggering procedural due process requirements; and, if

so, whether the procedures afforded Dilworth satisfied those

requirements. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556-57

(1974) (applying procedural due process analysis to denial of

prisoner good-time credits); Slezak v. Evatt, 21 F.3d 590, 593–

94 (4th Cir. 1994) (applying procedural due process analysis to

prison classification system). We hold that the disciplinary

8
actions taken against Dilworth necessitated compliance with

procedural due process standards, and further hold that those

standards were not satisfied here.

1.

At the first step of the procedural due process inquiry, we

must determine whether Dilworth’s placement in disciplinary

segregation implicates a protected liberty interest and thus

warrants procedural safeguards. See Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S.

472, 484–86 (1995). The district court answered that question

in the affirmative, holding that pretrial detainees like

Dilworth may not be placed in disciplinary segregation without

due process. On this point, we agree with the district court.

By definition, pretrial detainees have not been convicted

of the crimes with which they are charged. For that reason, the

Supreme Court held in Bell v. Wolfish, they retain a liberty

interest in freedom from “punishment,” even while they are

detained to ensure their presence at trial. 441 U.S. at 535-37.

Though “[l]oss of freedom of choice and privacy are inherent

incidents” of pretrial detention, discrete “punitive measures”

imposed during pretrial detention intrude on a protected liberty

interest. Id. at 537; Surprenant v. Rivas, 424 F.3d 5, 17 (1st

Cir. 2005) (“Pretrial detainees, unlike convicts, have a liberty

interest in avoiding punishment[.]”); Martin v. Gentile, 849

F.2d 863, 870 (4th Cir. 1988) (finding pretrial detainees are

9
protected with respect to “any form of ‘punishment’”) (emphasis

in original).

Though Bell would appear to settle the issue, the

defendants take a different position. According to the

defendants, the Supreme Court clarified in Sandin v. Conner that

only a subcategory of prison “punishments” will infringe on

protected liberty interests and necessitate due process

protections: those that impose “atypical and significant

hardship” on prisoners. See 515 U.S. at 484. Because

disciplinary segregation, the Court held in Sandin, does not

rise to this level, id. at 485-86, the defendants conclude that

Dilworth had no protected liberty interest and thus was not

entitled to due process at all.

But Sandin, which concerned the punishment of convicted

prisoners, id. at 474-75, 484-85, has no application to pretrial

detainees like Dilworth. In Sandin, the Supreme Court explained

that prison regulations providing for procedures in connection

with punishment will not give rise to a protected liberty

interest unless the punishment in question “imposes atypical and

significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary

incidents of prison life.” Id. at 484. That was so, the Court

reasoned, because a wide range of “[d]iscipline by prison

officials . . . falls within the expected perimeters of the

sentence imposed by a court of law.” Id. at 485 (emphasis

10
added). But pretrial detainees, as we have explained, have not

been convicted or sentenced by a court of law, and thus fall

plainly outside this rationale. And indeed, the Court in Sandin

expressly distinguished Bell on precisely this ground. Id. at

484 (rejecting prisoner’s reliance on Bell because “Bell dealt

with the interests of pretrial detainees and not convicted

prisoners”); see also Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 135 S. Ct. 2466,

2475 (2015) (“pretrial detainees (unlike convicted prisoners)

cannot be punished at all”).

Every federal court of appeals to consider the question has

concluded that Sandin’s “atypical and significant hardship”

standard does not govern the procedural due process claims of

pretrial detainees. See Jacoby v. Baldwin Cty., No. 14-12932,

2016 WL 4506051, at *6 (11th Cir. Aug. 29, 2016); Hanks v.

Prachar, 457 F.3d 774, 776 (8th Cir. 2006) (per curiam);

Surprenant, 424 F.3d at 17; Peoples v. CCA Det. Ctrs., 422 F.3d

1090, 1106 n.12 (10th Cir. 2005); Benjamin v. Fraser, 264 F.3d

175, 188–89 (2d Cir. 2001); Rapier v. Harris, 172 F.3d 999,

1004–05 (7th Cir. 1999); Mitchell v. Dupnik, 75 F.3d 517, 524

(9th Cir. 1996); see also Fuentes v. Wagner, 206 F.3d 335, 342

n.9 (3rd Cir. 2000) (holding Sandin inapplicable to detainee

convicted but not yet sentenced), cert denied, 531 U.S. 821

(2000). We join our sister circuits and hold that Dilworth, as

a pretrial detainee, was entitled under Bell to procedural due

11
process in connection with any “punishment” imposed on him by

the Detention Facility.

It remains to be considered only whether Dilworth’s two

placements in disciplinary segregation constitute “punishment”

within the meaning of Bell. That a “disability is imposed for

the purpose of punishment,” the Court held in Bell, may be clear

from “an expressed intent to punish on the part of detention

facility officials[.]” 441 U.S. at 538. If it is not, then a

court still may infer an intent to punish if a “restriction or

condition is not reasonably related” to some other legitimate

goal. Id. at 539; see Martin, 849 F.2d at 870 (to establish

that restriction is “punishment,” pretrial detainee must show

“either that it was (1) imposed with an expressed intent to

punish or (2) not reasonably related to a legitimate non-

punitive governmental objective”); Slade v. Hampton Rds. Reg’l

Jail, 407 F.3d 243, 251 (4th Cir. 2005) (same).

In this case, an intent to punish is express, and

manifestly clear from the record. Dilworth’s placement in

segregation was identified as a “disciplinary action[] taken” on

the “Inmate Disciplinary Report” filed in connection with each

of his altercations. J.A. 64, 69. In dismissing Dilworth’s

appeals, administrative review officer Fales referred expressly

to the “disciplinary sanctions” and “disciplinary actions” on

review. J.A. 55, 60. And in their brief on appeal, the

12
defendants similarly, and consistently, describe Dilworth’s

placement as “disciplinary,” a “disciplinary action,” and a

“penalty for [] disciplinary violations.” When it comes to

intent, in other words, this is the easy case in which we need

not go beyond what is express.

The defendants suggested for the first time at oral

argument that the restriction imposed on Dilworth might be so

“de minimis” that it cannot amount to punishment under Bell,

whatever its intent. See Bell, 441 U.S. at 539 n.21 (defining

“punishment” in terms of intent but noting that there is “a de

minimis level of imposition with which the Constitution is not

concerned”) (internal quotation marks omitted); Robles v. Prince

George’s Cty., Md., 302 F.3d 262, 269 (4th Cir. 2002) (finding

pretrial detainee must show that official action was not “de

minimis” to invoke due process protections); Slade, 407 F.3d at

251 (same). Though some cases may present close questions on

this score, see Collins v. Ainsworth, 382 F.3d 529, 545 (5th

Cir. 2004) (finding denial of phone calls and mattresses for

less than 24 hours to be de minimis), this one does not. For

the 85 days in which he was in disciplinary segregation,

Dilworth was confined to his cell for 23 hours each day and

denied all personal contact except with attorneys or clergy.

Other courts have had no difficulty classifying this sort of

disciplinary segregation as “punishment” under Bell. See Kirk

13
v. Boyles, 2010 WL 2720886, at *2 (E.D. Cal. July 8, 2010)

(magistrate report) (rejecting argument that three-day

disciplinary confinement is de minimis), adopted by, 2010 WL

3516630 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2010); see also Surprenant, 424 F.3d

at 13–14 (treating disciplinary segregation as punishment);

Higgs v. Carver, 286 F.3d 437, 438 (7th Cir. 2002) (same);

Mitchell, 75 F.3d at 524 (same). The Detention Facility itself,

in its policy on inmate disciplinary procedures, appears to

agree, treating disciplinary segregation as a sanction

implicating liberty interests and triggering procedural

protections. J.A. 105. We, too, conclude that disciplinary

segregation of a pretrial detainee, intended as a penalty for

disciplinary infractions, implicates a protected liberty

interest under the Fourteenth Amendment and may not be imposed

without due process.

2.

Having determined that Dilworth was entitled to due process

before he was punished with disciplinary segregation, we turn to

the question of whether the procedures afforded Dilworth

satisfied Fourteenth Amendment requirements. We do not doubt,

as the Supreme Court has held, that the realities of the prison

environment require “some amount of flexibility” in the due

process inquiry, so as to accommodate the very real interest of

prison officials in maintaining order and safety. Wolff v.

14
McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 566 (1974). But the Supreme Court has

set out certain procedural minimums that pertain even in the

prison setting, and those requirements were not met here.

The elements of due process in prison disciplinary

proceedings were established by the Supreme Court in Wolff.

Emphasizing the need for “mutual accommodation” of institutional

objectives and constitutional rights, id. at 556, the Wolff

Court struck a careful balance between inmates’ due process

interests and the legitimate goals and security concerns of a

penal institution, id. at 556-63. The result was a clear

explication of the necessary procedural safeguards, beginning,

most critically, with a hearing, at which an inmate may call

witnesses and present documentary evidence unless doing so would

present an undue hazard. Id. at 557-58 (“The Court has

consistently held that some kind of hearing is required at some

time before a person is finally deprived of his property

interests . . . . We think a person’s liberty is equally

protected[.]”). An inmate also is entitled, the Court held, to

written notice of the alleged disciplinary violation at least 24

hours before the hearing, and, after the hearing, to a written

statement describing the reasons for the disciplinary action

taken. Id. at 563-65.

We note that the requirements laid out in Wolff are clear

enough that the Detention Facility has incorporated them into

15
its own published policy on inmate discipline. Under that

policy, as per Wolff, an inmate charged with a disciplinary

violation implicating a liberty interest is entitled, after 24

hours notice of the charges, to a hearing at which the inmate

may make a statement on his or her behalf, present witnesses and

evidence, and ask questions of his or her accuser. After the

hearing, the inmate is provided a written report describing the

disciplinary findings made as a result of the hearing. 1

As the defendants concede, the process afforded Dilworth

complies with neither the Detention Facility’s policy nor the

dictates of Wolff. There is no factual dispute as to what

process Dilworth received: the opportunity to take a written

appeal after his sanction was finalized. Nor can there be any

question but that this process falls short of what Wolff

requires.

Under Wolff, the core component of due process in the

prison discipline context is the right to a hearing. To be

1To be clear, Dilworth’s liberty interest, as explained in
Bell, arises from the Constitution itself, and not from any
mandatory language in the Detention Facility’s policy. See 441
U.S. at 535 (“[U]nder the Due Process Clause, a detainee may not
be punished prior to an adjudication of guilt in accordance with
due process of law.”); cf. Sandin, 515 U.S. at 483-84
(discussing circumstances under which state may create liberty
interest through mandatory regulatory language). The Detention
Facility’s policy does, however, suggest both that Wolff’s
requirements are generally understood and that the Detention
Facility believes itself able to comply with them.

16
sure, Wolff does not contemplate “full adversary proceedings,”

Benjamin, 264 F.3d at 190, and prison officials retain the

discretion to “keep [a] hearing within reasonable limits” in an

effort to avoid disruption and threats to safety. Wolff, 418

U.S. at 566. For instance, prison officials need not permit an

inmate to cross-examine witnesses against him, nor allow an

inmate to call witnesses who would “create a risk of reprisal or

undermine authority”; and inmates do not possess the right to

retained or appointed counsel. Id. at 566-70; see also Baker v.

Lyles, 904 F.2d 925, 932–33 (4th Cir. 1990) (permitting use of

hearsay statements by unidentified informants in prison

disciplinary hearings). But the hearing itself, at which a

pretrial detainee like Dilworth may contest whether he has in

fact violated a disciplinary rule before he is punished, is the

minimal requirement of the Wolff process. See 418 U.S. at 557-

58; see also, e.g., Mitchell, 75 F.3d at 524 (“[P]retrial

detainees may be subjected to disciplinary segregation only with

a due process hearing[.]”); Benjamin, 264 F.3d at 190

(contrasting hearing required by Wolff with more minimal process

required for prison administrative actions). 2

2
Indeed, the petitioner in Wolff was afforded a hearing
before he was sanctioned; the issue in Wolff was whether that
hearing provided sufficient process, or whether more was
required. 418 U.S. at 559-60. In holding that an inmate’s
right to call or cross-examine witnesses must be balanced
(Continued)
17
That minimal requirement was not satisfied here. As the

defendants acknowledge, Dilworth never was provided a due

process hearing. Instead, when Dilworth requested a hearing, a

Detention Facility official informed him that the official was

“NOT required to recommend a disciplinary hearing if grounds for

such do not exist.” J.A. 60 (emphasis in original). Nor can

Dilworth’s opportunity to file a written appeal substitute for

the missing hearing. A statement in writing is not a hearing,

and it is not what is contemplated by Wolff – as is clear, for

instance, when Wolff holds that an inmate has a qualified right

to call witnesses to testify at his hearing. 418 U.S. at 566-

67. And by definition, an appeal is a request for review of an

action already taken, whereas Wolff’s due process hearing is to

be provided before final deprivation of a liberty interest. Id.

at 557-58.

That is not to say, of course, that prison or jail

officials are barred from taking immediate action, without a

prior hearing, in response to altercations like Dilworth’s or

other disciplinary offenses. On the contrary, it is clear – and

Dilworth does not dispute – that for safety or security reasons,

against a prison’s need for order and security, in other words,
the Court cast no doubt on the necessity of the underlying
hearing itself.

18
a jail may take immediate preventative action to segregate a

detainee after a fight or disruption. See, e.g., Baker, 904

F.2d at 930-31; Higgs, 286 F.3d at 438. And prisons and jails

may and routinely do place inmates charged with disciplinary

infractions in “administrative segregation” pending their

disciplinary hearings, allowing both prison officials and

inmates time to investigate and prepare for those hearings. See

Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 463-65, 473-74 (1983) (approving

placement of inmate in administrative segregation pending

investigation and hearing on disciplinary charges), receded from

on other grounds by Sandin, 515 U.S. at 482–83; see Brown v.

Braxton, 373 F.3d 501, 503 (4th Cir. 2004) (inmate placed in

“administrative detention” pending disciplinary hearing while

officials investigated altercation). The Detention Facility’s

disciplinary policy contemplates as much, providing that an

inmate may be placed in segregation prior to a hearing and

formal disciplinary action to ensure order and security, and we

have no quarrel with that understanding. But all of this

presupposes that there is, in fact, a hearing in connection with

the final imposition of disciplinary action, and that is the

element that is missing here.

On this record, it is plain that Dilworth was not provided

a hearing before he was subjected to punishment in the form of

disciplinary segregation, and the defendants do not contend

19
otherwise. That is enough to resolve Dilworth’s due process

claim as a matter of law. We remand for resolution of

Dilworth’s damages claim, consistent with this opinion.

B.

We next address Dilworth’s contention that the district

court erred in granting the defendants summary judgment on his

excessive force claim. As noted above, the district court

applied a subjective standard to Dilworth’s claim, requiring

Dilworth to show that Officers Cookson and Trott had acted “with

a sufficiently culpable state of mind” in the form of an intent

to “maliciously and sadistically [] cause harm.” J.A. 130

(internal quotation marks omitted). Because the record could

not support such a finding, the district court granted summary

judgment to the defendants.

After the district court issued its ruling, the Supreme

Court held in Kingsley v. Hendrickson that “the appropriate

standard for a pretrial detainee’s excessive force claim is

solely an objective one.” 135 S. Ct. at 2473. It is enough,

the Supreme Court concluded, that a pretrial detainee show that

the “force purposely or knowingly used against him was

objectively unreasonable,” id., regardless of an officer’s state

of mind, id. at 2472.

The parties agree that the district court has not evaluated

Dilworth’s claim under the standard set out by the intervening

20
decision in Kingsley. Accordingly, we remand so that the

district court may consider, in the first instance, whether

under the “facts and circumstances” of this particular case, and

from the “perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene,” the

force used against Dilworth was objectively excessive. Id. at

2473; see Barrett v. Applied Radiant Energy Corp., 240 F.3d 262,

264 (4th Cir. 2001) (remanding for reconsideration in light of

intervening authority). In deciding whether summary judgment

may be granted to the defendants under that objective standard,

the district court should view the video of the July 5 incident

and consider it along with other relevant evidence bearing on

objective reasonableness. Cf. Ingle ex rel. Estate of Ingle v.

Yelton, 439 F.3d 191, 197 (4th Cir. 2006) (holding grant of

summary judgment on excessive force claim premature where

district court has not considered videotape evidence).

III.

For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the district court’s

grant of summary judgment to the defendants on Dilworth’s due

process claim, order that judgment be entered for Dilworth, and

remand for resolution of Dilworth’s damages claim. We vacate

the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants

21
on the excessive force claim and remand for further proceedings

consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED

22

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4096113. Public record. Not legal advice.
