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Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2021) 

1 

Per Curiam 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

DANIEL RIVAS-VILLEGAS v. RAMON CORTESLUNA 

ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED 
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT 

No. 20–1539.  Decided October 18, 2021

 PER CURIAM. 
Petitioner Daniel Rivas-Villegas, a police officer in Union 
City,  California,  responded  to  a  911  call  reporting  that  a 
woman and her two children were barricaded in a room for 
fear that respondent Ramon Cortesluna, the woman’s boy-
friend, was going to hurt them.  After confirming that the 
family  had  no  way  of  escaping  the  house,  Rivas-Villegas
and the other officers present commanded Cortesluna out-
side  and  onto  the  ground.  Officers  saw  a  knife  in  Cor-
tesluna’s left pocket.  While Rivas-Villegas and another of-
ficer  were  in  the  process  of  removing  the  knife  and
handcuffing  Cortesluna,  Rivas-Villegas  briefly  placed  his
knee on the left side of Cortesluna’s back.  Cortesluna later 
sued under Rev. Stat. §1979, 42 U. S. C. §1983, alleging, as 
relevant, that Rivas-Villegas used excessive force.  At issue 
here  is  whether  Rivas-Villegas  is entitled  to qualified im-
munity because he did not violate clearly established law.

The undisputed facts are as follows.  A 911 operator re-
ceived  a  call  from  a  crying  12-year-old  girl  reporting  that
she, her mother, and her 15-year-old sister had shut them-
selves into a room at their home because her mother’s boy-
friend,  Cortesluna,  was  trying  to  hurt  them  and  had  a 
chainsaw.  The girl told the operator that Cortesluna was
“ ‘always  drinking,’ ”  had  “ ‘anger  issues,’ ”  was  “ ‘really 
mad,’ ” and was using the chainsaw to “ ‘break something in 
the house.’ ”  Cortesluna v. Leon, 979 F. 3d 645, 649 (CA9 
2020).  A police dispatcher relayed this information along
with a description of Cortesluna in a request for officers to
respond.