Opinion ID: 2677422
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Officer Devick’s Initial Encounter

Text: The district court granted Officer Devick qualified immunity regarding his actions during his initial, solo encounter with Smith. As to the clearly established prong of the qualified-immunity analysis, the district court found “a reasonable officer faced with the same circumstances would not have known that the decision to kick and hit Smith in an attempt to detain him clearly violated the Fourth Amendment.” Ms. Smith argues it was objectively unreasonable for Officer Devick to approach Smith and then hit and kick him when Smith “was attempting to surrender.” She contends Smith stopped and faced Officer Devick, without a rifle, and did not behave aggressively by approaching Officer Devick. In support of her argument, Ms. Smith submitted an expert report by Dan Montgomery, former Chief of Police of Westminster, Colorado. Montgomery opined, “Mr. Smith appeared to be complying up until the point that Officer Devick approached him, kicked him and then struck him in the head. At that point, Mr. Smith fled.” While Officer Devick readily admits Smith stopped his initial flight, Smith did not comply with Officer Devick’s orders to get down on the ground. Officer Devick said Smith “took a defensive stance” and did not allow Officer Devick to effectuate the arrest. Montgomery reported Officer Devick “was only 15 feet away when he started moving towards Mr. Smith ordering him to the ground.” (Emphasis added). Defendants maintain, “Devick believed it imperative to get Smith handcuffed so that he could not reach any weapon.” Montgomery acknowledged, “I can understand the necessity of getting . . . [Mr. Smith] handcuffed and under control, and I can understand the officers’ concerns that Mr. Smith might possibly have a handgun or other weapon in his waistband.” Thus in the “particularized” situation here, an officer attempted to effectuate an arrest by ordering the suspect to the ground, that is, a large and potentially armed man who was suspected of domestic abuse and making threats with a gun. The man refused to comply with the officer’s orders. To get this suspect to the ground and -7- apply handcuffs in order to control the suspect and protect the police and the public, the officer approached the suspect and attempted to subdue him with a hit and a kick, not deadly force. Ms. Smith has not cited any case that would render the “constitutional question beyond debate” and would put Officer Devick on notice that such actions during this first encounter would violate Smith’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizure. Al-Kidd, 563 U.S. at ___, 131 S. Ct. at 2083. Ms. Smith only cites Montgomery’s obviously hindsight-based report, which does not constitute clearly established law. Because we do not find any clearly established law supporting Ms. Smith’s claim, and any violation is not obvious, Officer Devick is entitled to qualified immunity for his actions during his initial encounter with Smith.