Opinion ID: 6983251
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Force Used Against Ray Womack

Text: Ray Womack claims Defendants used excessive force against him when they handcuffed him and placed him face down on the floor at gunpoint. However, Defendants claim they subjected Ray Womack to such force because they believed he was Carroll. As discussed above, genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether Defendants’ mistake in this regard was reasonable. See supra Part III. B.3. If their mistake was reasonable, then the law permitted Defendants to effectuate their arrest using force reasonably necessary'from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene. See Graham, 490 U.S. at 394, 109 S.Ct. 1865; Hill, 401 U.S. at 804-05, 91 S.Ct. 1106 (noting that where mistaken identity was reasonable, “police were entitled to do what the law would have allowed them to do” if they in fact had the right man). Consequently, on remand the trier of fact must consider not only whether it was reasonable for Defendants to mistake Ray Womack for Carroll, but also whether it would have been reasonable for Defendants, assuming they reasonably believed he was Carroll, to handcuff their suspect and to place him face down on the floor at gunpoint, given the severity of the crime they reasonably believed Carroll had committed and the danger they reasonably believed that he posed to the safety of others.