CA8: Plaintiff’s allegations that force was applied to coerce consent to search survives qualified immunity claim

Plaintiff’s allegations that force was applied to coerce consent to search survives qualified immunity claim in a 1983 case. Hemphill v. Hale, 677 F.3d 799 (8th Cir. 2012):

In Chambers, we held that evidence of de minimis injury does not necessarily foreclose a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim, that the force alleged was not reasonable under the circumstances, but that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity because the state of the law in August 2005 was such that a reasonable officer could have believed that as long as he did not cause more than de minimis injury to an arrestee, he would not violate the Fourth Amendment. See Chambers, 641 F.3d at 904, 906-08.

Chambers, however, did not address the situation alleged here: that the force was used in an attempt to coerce consent to a search. While in Chambers we stated that “[p]olice officers undoubtedly have a right to use some degree of physical force, or threat thereof, to effect a lawful seizure,” see id. at 907, we agree with the district court that officers do not have the right to use any degree of physical force or threatened force to coerce an individual to consent to a warrantless search of his home. See United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 201 (2002) (law enforcement officers may request consent to search “provided they do not induce cooperation by coercive means”); United States v. Thomas, 93 F.3d 479, 486 (8th Cir. 1996) (consent to search may not be result of “‘duress or coercion, express or implied'” (internal citation omitted)); cf. Wilkins v. May, 872 F.2d 190, 194 (7th Cir. 1989) (showing of physical injury required to state Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim for force used in course of arrest is not required in situations not involving arrest, such as during interrogation). Because no use of force to obtain Hemphill’s consent to search would have been reasonable, the force Hale was alleged to have used-grabbing Hemphill by the neck, choking him, and hitting him two or three times while he was handcuffed-was objectively unreasonable given the facts and circumstances in the case. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396-97 (1989) (officer’s use of force violates Fourth Amendment when it is objectively unreasonable given facts and circumstances of particular case, judged from perspective of reasonable officer at scene). The law regarding forced consent was clearly established in August 2009 such that a reasonable person in Hale’s position would have known that his actions were unreasonable. See Drayton, 536 U.S. at 201; Thomas, 93 F.3d at 486.

The order denying qualified immunity is affirmed.