Opinion ID: 198593
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ronald Ramsdell's First Burst of Bullets

Text: 23 Ronald Ramsdell's conduct, however, requires closer scrutiny because Napier was acquitted of threatening Ronald and of placing him at risk of serious bodily injury. It is undisputed that Ronald fired two bursts of three bullets each at Napier, and the magistrate analyzed each burst separately. As noted by the magistrate, Ronald testified at Napier's criminal trial that he fired the first three rounds because he thought Napier was going to shoot Richard and that he fired the second three rounds because he thought Napier was going to shoot him. 24 The magistrate recommended summary judgment with regard to the first burst because he found that a reasonable officer could have made the same choice under the circumstances of witnessing Napier's creation of a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to Richard. Due to the collateral estoppel effect of his criminal conviction, Napier cannot create a genuine issue regarding whether he actually created a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to Richard. What Napier can and does argue on appeal is that there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Ronald knew of or was able to witness that creation of risk. 25 Napier now claims that Ronald could not see Napier inside the house. However, Napier did not present this argument or any evidence supporting it to the magistrate, so it was not part of the summary judgment record. 2 This alone adequately supports the magistrate's determination. In any event, it would not matter if Napier had claimed that Ronald could not have seen Napier inside the house because Ronald did not claim to have been able to do so. To the contrary, Ronald specifically testified that he could not see Napier when Napier was inside. All parties agree that, when Richard jumped behind the woodpile, Napier came to the open doorway of the house. Whether Ronald could see into the house from his position in the driveway is irrelevant, because Napier came out to the open doorway, where he could be seen -- and shot -- by Ronald. Napier does not dispute that Ronald: (1) knew that Napier was possibly mentally disturbed; (2) knew that Richard had quickly retreated from Napier by jumping over the woodpile on the porch; and (3) saw Napier in the open doorway holding a gun. Consequently, Napier has not created a genuine issue as to whether Ronald knew that Napier placed Richard at a substantial risk of serious bodily injury. Rather, it has been conclusively established that Napier threatened Richard and placed him at risk of serious bodily injury, and it is undisputed that Ronald knew of those facts at the time he fired the first burst of bullets at Napier. Therefore, we do not disturb the magistrate's decision regarding the first burst of bullets fired by Ronald. 26