Use of force.

U.S. District Court

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Craw v. Gray 159 F.Supp.2d 679 (N.D.Ohio 2001). An arrestee sued law enforcement officers under [SS] 1983 asserting claims for use of excessive force. The district court granted partial summary judgment in favor oft he officers, finding that the allegations did not support a claim for inadequate training of an officer and that past "use of force" incident reports did not support the claim for inadequate supervision of the officer. According to the court, the assertion that a particular officer may be unsatisfactorily trained does not alone "suffice to fasten ?? 1983 liability" on a municipality for failure to train. The court noted that none of the reports showed that the deputy acted improperly. The officer had brought the arrestee to a county jail and during the booking process an altercation between the arrestee and the officer resulted in a right hip fracture and dislocation for the arrestee. (Mercer County Jail, Ohio)

U.S. District Court

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Davis v. Hill 173 F.Supp.2d 1136 (D.Kan. 2001). An arrestee brought a ?? 1983 action against a county, sheriff, and employees alleging that he was the victim of excessive force while detained. The defendants moved for summary judgment and the district court granted the motion in part, and denied it in part. The court held that fact issues as to whether sheriff's deputies beat the arrestee senseless in his cell precluded summary judgment on the detainee's Fourth Amendment excessive force claim. The court also found that the arrestee could maintain a suit against deputies who were near the cell at the time, despite his inability to identify the two who allegedly administered the beating. The arrestee was allegedly handcuffed in his cell during a staff shift change. The arrestee was yelling and kicking his cell door and alleged that an officer entered the cell and hit him behind his ear, knocking him into the steel bed and against a steel wall, and then ground his thumb behind the arrestee's ear. According to the arrestee, another officer entered and the two "proceeded attacking and torturing me on every joint in my body..." (Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility, Kansas)

U.S. Appeals Court

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Jeffers v. Gomez, 267 F.3d 895 (9th Cir. 2001). An inmate brought a [ss] 1983 action against prison officials after being shot during a prison riot The district court denied the officials' motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds...