Opinion ID: 173011
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Phraseology of the Qualified Immunity Question

Text: While the district court may not have erred in submitting this particular qualified immunity question to the jury, it did err in how it stated the immunity question to the jury. Specifically, to the extent the interrogatory asked the jury to decide whether the defendants' conduct was objectively reasonable, the district court erred. Stating that a district court may submit the question of qualified immunity to the jury when there are material disputed facts is somewhat misleading. Whether a defendant's conduct is objectively reasonable is always a question of law for the court. The only reason a district court does not resolve the qualified immunity question before the case goes to the jury is because there are underlying disputed historical facts necessary to resolution of that legal issue. The jury needs only to resolve those disputed facts to allow the court to resolve the legal question of objective reasonableness. Thus, the district court should have submitted specific fact-finding interrogatories to the jury that would have allowed it to resolve the material disputed facts, but the district court should have reserved for itself the question of whether the defendants' conduct was objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. See, e.g., Curley v. Klem, 499 F.3d 199, 211 (3d Cir.2007) ([W]hether an officer made a reasonable mistake of law and is thus entitled to qualified immunity is a question of law that is properly answered by the court, not a jury ... [and] [w]hen a district court submits that question of law to a jury, it commits reversible error. (internal citation omitted)); Zellner v. Summerlin, 494 F.3d 344, 368 (2d Cir.2007) (Once the jury has resolved any disputed facts that are material to the qualified immunity issue, the ultimate determination of whether the officer's conduct was objectively reasonable is to be made by the court.); Willingham v. Crooke, 412 F.3d 553, 559-60 (4th Cir.2005); Littrell v. Franklin, 388 F.3d 578, 585-86 (8th Cir.2004); Pouillon v. City of Owosso, 206 F.3d 711, 718-19 (6th Cir.2000); Warlick v. Cross, 969 F.2d 303, 305-06 (7th Cir.1992); Prokey v. Watkins, 942 F.2d 67, 73 (1st Cir.1991). In this case, however, the district court's improper submission of the objectively reasonable question to the jury does not mandate reversal. First, Gonzales waived this ground for relief by failing to object at trial to the phraseology of the interrogatory. See Fischer v. Forestwood Co., 525 F.3d 972, 978 n. 2 (10th Cir.2008) ([A]rguments not raised in the district court are waived on appeal.) (citing Rosewood Servs., Inc. v. Sunflower Diversified Servs., Inc., 413 F.3d 1163, 1167 (10th Cir. 2005)). Second, even if Gonzales had raised this issue, the error would be harmless because, as the majority explained in its harmless error analysis, supra at 861-62, the jury separately reached the merits of Jade Gonzales' Fourteenth Amendment claim and concluded that the defendants committed no constitutional violation. Because this conclusion obviated the need to reach the merits and Gonzales has not otherwise shown prejudice, the error in phrasing the immunity question was harmless. See supra at 861-62. I think a court should never ask the jury to resolve the legal question of whether a defendant's conduct is objectively reasonable. Nonetheless, I do not find it necessary to quarrel with the majority or to urge en banc review of our precedents because of the way I resolve this issue. I concur with the majority's judgment in this case and agree that this court should affirm.