Opinion ID: 171480
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ms. Chavez

Text: As described by the district court, Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 1968-69, while standing near Central Avenue and Harvard Drive, Ms. Chavez saw an officer shoot a nonlethal round at the protestor next to her, causing the protestor to scream and fall down. She sat down in the street on Central Avenue near Cornell Drive as a sign of protest. She witnessed officers taking away other protestors in the crowd. While seated in the street and not posing any threat, Ms. Chavez was subjected to tear gas and then shot repeatedly with pepper ball rounds. She saw officers deploy tear gas canisters into the crowd. She also witnessed the police shoot a second volley of tear gas canisters into the area in front of the UNM Bookstore, which is where the officers had been directing protestors to go. Ms. Chavez felt that she could not move. The gas burned her eyes and she started choking. Because she was focused on regaining control of her breathing, Ms. Chavez does not recall feeling the impact of the pepper ball rounds on her body, nor did the projectiles leave any welts, marks, or bruises. She did, however, know that guns were pointed in her direction. Ms. Chavez was aware of the possibility that she might be arrested for sitting in the street, but she did not expect to be subjected to tear gas or shot. Even after lying down to show that she was not a threat, she was repeatedly shot with pepper ball rounds. Other protestors eventually attempted to escort her to safety, but as they were doing so, an officer shoved Ms. Chavez from behind with his baton, knocking her down onto Central Avenue. She lay there, unable to stand, trying to breathe, coughing, her eyes burning. Once she could stand, other protestors helped her onto the sidewalk in front of the Frontier restaurant. Ms. Chavez leaned against a light pole, trying to recover, when more police officers, yelling, screaming, and pushing with their batons, forced her back onto Central Avenue. She did not know what they wanted her to do, so she cried out to them to tell her where to go. They yelled back that she was to go across the street, and she complied. The district court determined that the repeated shooting of pepper ball rounds at Ms. Chavez, who was lying in the street, was an unreasonable use of force. Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 2027 (citing Holland ex rel. Overdorff v. Harrington, 268 F.3d 1179, 1193 (10th Cir.2001) (Where a person has submitted to the officers' show of force without resistance, and where an officer has no reasonable cause to believe that person poses a danger to the officer or to others, it may be excessive and unreasonable to continue to aim a loaded firearm directly at that person....)). Pepper balls are rifle-fired projectiles that break into pieces upon impact and release oleoresin capsicum powder (commonly known as mace), thereby causing both pain at the point of impact and irritation of the targeted individual's eyes and breathing passages. Fogarty, 523 F.3d at 1152 n. 4. Here, the severity of Ms. Chavez's purported infractions and the degree of potential threat that she posed to an officer's and to others' safety appeared to be nilshe was lying on the ground. She also did not resist or evade arrest.  Graham establishes that force is least justified against nonviolent misdemeanants who do not flee or actively resist arrest. Casey, 509 F.3d at 1285. To the extent Capt. Gonzales argues that, even viewing the facts favorably to Ms. Chavez, the force could not be viewed as unreasonable, we disagree. To the extent Capt. Gonzales challenges the district court's factual findings, we reiterate that we are without jurisdiction to review the sufficiency of evidence as to whether a jury might conclude that the officers' use of force was excessive.