CA5: Violation of policy against hogtying arrestee isn’t a constitutional violation

Decedent was Tasered when he was fighting officers and wouldn’t comply with repeated requests. He was finally hogtied, too, and he stopped breathing. Paramedics were called, and he ultimately died. Viewing the undisputed facts most favorably to the estate, the officers have qualified immunity for both the Tasering and the hogtying. The former was reasonably used, and the latter had never been held unconstitutional. Harris County had a policy against it, but a violation of policy is not a per se a constitutional violation. Pratt v. Harris County, Tex. (In re Estate of Pratt), 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8049 (5th Cir. May 3, 2016).