Opinion

Adams v. St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department

  • 998 F.2d 923
  • 1993 WL 300589
Court
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Filed
Aug 25, 1993
Status
Published
Author
Hatchett
On the bench
Anderson, Birch, Black, Carnes, Cox, Dubina, Edmondson, Fay, Hatchett, Hill, Kravitch, Tjoflat
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 20.1%

The opinion

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge,

dissenting, in which KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge, joins:

In Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11 , 105 S.Ct. 1694, 1701 , 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985), the Supreme Court held that the use of deadly force to apprehend a fleeing felon constitutes an unreasonable seizure under the fourth amendment, unless law enforcement officers have probable cause to believe the felon poses a threat of serious bodily harm to the officers or to others. Even prior to Gamer, however, it was clear that law enforcement officers may not use deadly force to apprehend a fleeing misdemeanant. See Garner, 471 U.S. at 15 , 105 S.Ct. at 1703 (recognizing that common law prohibited the use of deadly force to apprehend a misdemeanant).

In this en banc case, the majority holds that at the time of this incident, the law was not clearly established that law enforcement officers would violate the constitutional rights of a fleeing misdemeanant if, during a high speed chase, the law enforcement officers intentionally rammed the automobile in which a misdemeanant and passenger were riding, thereby causing it to crash, killing the passenger. **

For all of the reasons expressed in the panel opinion reported at 962 F.2d 1563 (11th Cir.1992), vacated and reh’g en banc granted, 982 F.2d 472 (11th Cir.1993), I dissent.

In effect, the majority holds that common sense is insufficient to inform law enforcement officers that they may not use deadly force against a fleeing misdemeanant. Nevertheless, after this opinion, the law is clearly established that law enforcement officers may not use deadly force to apprehend a fleeing misdemeanant.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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