# Adams v. St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department

> Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · August 25, 1993 · 998 F.2d 923

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9011899

## Case

- **Full name:** Robert Jeff ADAMS, Sr., Personal Representative for the Estate of Donald Demasco Adams, Sr. v. ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, Robert C. Knowles, Sheriff, Donnie Ingram, J.M. Lindsey, Robert Soesbe
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- **Decided:** August 25, 1993
- **Citations:** 998 F.2d 923; 1993 WL 300589
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Hatchett
- **Judges:** Anderson, Birch, Black, Carnes, Cox, Dubina, Edmondson, Fay, Hatchett, Hill, Kravitch, Tjoflat
- **Cited by:** 1 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/9011899

## Opinion text

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.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9011899. Public record. Not legal advice.