Opinion ID: 160748
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Officers Immunity for State Law Claims

Text: 21 The district court found genuine issues of material fact respecting the claim of immunity under state law for plaintiff's tort claims. The court found that while the officers were acting within the scope of their duties, in good faith, and that those duties were discretionary rather than ministerial, their conduct was unreasonable under the circumstances. The court observed that all four factors outlined by the Wyoming Supreme Court in Kanzler v. Renner 26 must be met and, because defendants acted unreasonably, their claim for immunity under state law must fail. While the federal qualified immunity standard focuses on whether a right was clearly established such that the officers would know their conduct violated that right, state law immunity in Wyoming requires that the officers' conduct be reasonable. In finding that the fourth amendment protects against application of a hog-tie restraint in this situation, we necessarily conclude that the officers acted unreasonably. 27 State law immunity in Wyoming does not require that a right be clearly established. The district court found the officers' conduct to be unreasonable and we find no error in this assessment. We therefore affirm its denial of summary judgment on the claim of state law immunity on the negligence claims. 22