United States Fifth Circuit

In a civil rights case raising questions of excessive force under the Fourth Amendment involving the shooting death of a teenage driver by a policeman who was struck by the car as it sped away after a traffic stop, summary judgment granting police officer qualified immunity is affirmed as: 1) the exclusion of expert witness evidence offered in reply to the summary judgment motion was justified; and 2) the officer, facing a grave threat to personal safety and with only seconds to make a decision, acted reasonably under the circumstances, for purposes of qualified immunity.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/01/2007
• Published 11/02/2007

Judges

• E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:, Before GARWOOD, JOLLY and STEWART, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fifth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ricky James Poole (argued), Law Offices of Ricky J. Poole, San Antonio, TX, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Shawn Kevin Fitzpatrick (argued), San Antonio, TX, for Defendant-Appellee.