{"id":7048,"date":"2012-07-01T09:44:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-28T17:19:23","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-28T17:19:23","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=7048","title":{"rendered":"CA7: Shooting drunk driver in legs with polyurethane bullets for not getting out of car was excessive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shooting the unarmed plaintiff drunk driver six times in the legs with SL6 polyurethane bullets for not getting out of her car fast enough was excessive force as a matter of law, and the jury verdict for the defendants is reversed. Phillips v. Community Ins. Corp.<\/a>, 678 F.3d 513 (7th Cir. 2012) (2-1):<\/p>\n

To determine whether a constitutional violation has occurred, we first evaluate the level of force used to arrest Phillips. The record establishes that the force exerted by an SL6 bullet is roughly comparable to a projectile from a bean-bag shotgun. Other courts of appeals have observed that baton launchers and similar “impact weapons” employ a substantially greater degree of force than other weapons categorized as “less lethal,” such as pepper spray, tasers, or pain compliance techniques. In Deorle v. Rutherford<\/a>, the Ninth Circuit considered a bean-bag shotgun projectile as “something akin to a rubber bullet.” 272 F.3d 1272, 1280 (9th Cir. 2001). Deorle concluded that “the cloth-cased shot constitutes force which has the capability of causing serious injury, and in some instances does so.” An officer provided expert testimony that a “Use of Force Continuum … would list an impact weapon high on the schedule of force” and that “[i]t would be unreasonable for an officer to use an impact weapon on an unarmed person.” Id. at 1280 & n.17 “Such force is much greater than that applied through the use of pepper spray … or a painful compliance hold ….” Id. at 1279-80 (citations omitted); see also Thompson v. City of Chicago<\/a>, 472 F.3d 444, 451 & nn.18-19 (7th Cir. 2006) (officer testimony regarding Chicago Police Department policies limiting use of “impact weapons” to “high-level, high-risk assailants” and describing such weapons as “unwarranted against a suspect resisting arrest” by punching and struggling); Mercado v. City of Orlando<\/a>, 407 F.3d 1152, 1157 (11th Cir. 2005) (observing that the SL6 weapon “is classified as a ‘less lethal’ munition, [but that local] police regulations recognize that it can be used as a deadly weapon.”).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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