Excessive Force

Terry Sides successfully defended a law enforcement officer in an excessive force case in federal court. The officer was a member of a fugitive task force which visited the plaintiff’s residence looking for the plaintiff’s daughter, who was the subject of an arrest warrant for attempted murder and burglary. As other officers were questioning the plaintiff about his daughter, a physical altercation occurred between them, during which the plaintiff was allegedly kicked in the back and otherwise assaulted. The plaintiff claimed he was then handcuffed behind his back, following which the subject officer sprayed him in the face with mace causing him even more serious injury. After extensive discovery was conducted, the court granted summary judgment for the officer on grounds that the plaintiff’s claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The plaintiff made several post-judgment efforts to convince the court to reverse itself and vacate the judgment, all of which failed. The judgment in favor of the officer was affirmed and the case was dismissed.