Opinion ID: 785861
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Officers Capuana, Callaghan, and Slater

Text: 71 The Rivas family emphasizes that Mr. Rivas committed no crime and presented no threat to anyone when Officers Slater, Callaghan and Capuana arrived at the Rivas household. The family claims the police officers were informed of Mr. Rivas's medical condition upon entering the apartment and should have allowed Mr. Rivas to remain in the bathroom until the paramedics, who were in transit, arrived. Instead, the officers ordered Mr. Rivas to leave the bathroom. The family claims Mr. Rivas had a second seizure as he walked down the hallway and the police officers responded by throwing him to the ground. Officer Capuana's testimony could support the theory that Mr. Rivas had a second seizure as he passed through the kitchen. 72 The Rivas family emphasizes that the force escalated after Mr. Rivas was on the living room floor. Officer Callaghan allegedly sat on Mr. Rivas's back while the other two officers restrained his legs and attempted to place handcuffs on Mr. Rivas. The family contends the officers repeatedly pushed Mr. Rivas's face into the floor, which made it difficult for him to breathe. According to testimony given by the EMTs, Officer Callaghan jammed a flashlight into Mr. Rivas's mouth at one point during the struggle and later struck him in the head with the same flashlight. 11 73 The police officers contend that the level of force they employed was necessary because Mr. Rivas bit them and tried to grab Officer Callaghan's weapon. We must, however, at the summary judgment stage consider only those facts alleged by [the plaintiff], taken in the light most favorable to him. Curley, 298 F.3d at 280. As the District Court pointed out, Mrs. Rivas argues that her husband could not have reached for anything since he appeared to be in the middle of another seizure and his face was pushed into the floor. We explained in Bennett v. Murphy, 274 F.3d 133, 137 (3d Cir.2002), that a police officer who is accused of having used excessive force is not precluded from arguing that he reasonably perceived the facts to be different from those alleged by the plaintiff, but that  contention ... must be considered at trial.  Id. at 137 (emphasis added). As such, we must assume at the summary judgment stage that Mr. Rivas, who was laying face down on the floor, was simply flailing his arms due to his seizure. 74 When viewed in the light most favorable to the Rivas family, these facts are sufficient to support the claim that Officers Callaghan, Slater and Capuana may have used excessive force to quiet Mr. Rivas. See Curley, 298 F.3d at 280 (finding unreasonable seizure where police officer mistakenly shot port authority officer). Once the officers ordered Mr. Rivas out of the bathroom, they effected a legal seizure by restraining his freedom of movement. Assuming that Mr. Rivas began to have a medical seizure as he and the officers walked through the kitchen (although his condition may not have been recognized by the officers), it was for the jury to decide if the ensuing takedown and force applied by the officers was objectively reasonable.