United States First Circuit

Summary judgment for defendant-police officers in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action, alleging that defendant-police officers used excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments when they shot and killed plaintiff's son, is affirmed, where: 1) Officer Tavares's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable because a reasonable officer in the same circumstances could have believed that the decedent posed a threat of serious physical harm to his person when he fired shots one and two, and an identical threat to Officer Almeida when he fired shots three and four; 2) because the record does not establish a Fourth Amendment violation, plaintiff's claim cannot survive summary judgment; and 3) even if a constitutional violation was established, defendants would still be entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity because they did not violate clearly established law.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/01/2014
• Published 08/01/2014

Judges

• THOMPSON

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel