Opinion ID: 615433
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant Officers Used Excessive Force Against Brooks

Text: We begin by considering the nature and quality of the force used against Brooks: a taser in drive-stun mode. We have previously described the force involved when a taser is deployed in dartmode. See Bryan, 630 F.3d 805. In Bryan, we explained that in dart-mode the taser uses compressed nitrogen to propel a pair of probesaluminum darts tipped with stainless steel barbs connected to the [taser] by insulated wirestoward the target at a rate of over 160 feet per second. Upon striking a person, the [taser] delivers a 1200 volt, low ampere electrical charge ... The electrical impulse instantly overrides the victim's central nervous system, paralyzing the muscles throughout the body, rendering the target limp and helpless. Id. at 824 (footnote omitted). When a taser is used in drivestun mode, the operator removes the dart cartridge and pushes two electrode contacts located on the front of the taser directly against the victim. In this mode, the taser delivers an electric shock to the victim, but it does not cause an override of the victim's central nervous system as it does in dart-mode. Each of the three times that Jones tased Brooks in drive-stun mode, the shock was extremely painful. In Bryan, we held that tasers used in dart-mode constitute an intermediate, significant level of force. Id. at 826. Here, the record is not sufficient for us to determine what level of force is used when a taser is deployed in drive-stun mode. We follow the Supreme Court's guidance in Scott, however, and need not decide this issue in order to assess the reasonableness of the tasing. See 550 U.S. at 383, 127 S.Ct. 1769 (Whether or not [a defendant's] actions constituted application of `deadly force,' all that matters is whether [the defendant's] actions were reasonable.). Instead, we proceed to determine whether Jones's use of the taser against Brooks in this case was reasonable, keeping in mind the magnitude of the electric shock at issue and the extreme pain that Brooks experienced. See Brown v. City of Golden Valley, 574 F.3d 491, 495 (8th Cir. 2009) (noting that a woman who was tased in drive-stun mode experienced extreme pain and felt a sharp pain where the Taser met her arm, with the pain radiating from her upper arm and causing her muscles to clench). In evaluating the reasonableness of Jones's action, we consider the governmental interests at stake and begin with (1) how severe the crime at issue was, (2) whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and (3) whether the suspect was actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight. [4] Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1279-80. According to the facts as alleged by Brooks, the officers pulled her over for speeding and then detained and took her into custody because she refused to sign a traffic citation. She refused to sign the citation after she gave Ornelas her driver's license and he spent five minutes in his squad car with the license, presumably checking the status of her license. We appreciate the danger associated with speeding, and we do not minimize the particular importance of observing school zone speed limits. We also recognize the importance of having people sign their traffic citations when required to do so by state law. However, we have no difficulty deciding that failing to sign a traffic citation and driving 32 miles per hour in a 20-mileper-hour zone are not serious offenses. Indeed, our case law demonstrates that far more serious offenses than Brooks's do not constitute severe crimes in a Graham analysis. See Davis v. City of Las Vegas, 478 F.3d 1048, 1055 (9th Cir.2007) (noting that trespassing and obstructing a police officer were not severe crimes); City of Hemet, 394 F.3d at 702 (concluding that suspect was not particularly dangerous and his offense was not especially egregious where his wife had called 911 to report that her husband `was hitting her and/or was physical with her,' [and] that he had grabbed her breast very hard). We next consider whether Brooks posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others. Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1280 (internal quotation marks omitted). When the encounter began, Brooks was compliant: she pulled over when signaled to do so, gave her driver's license to Ornelas when asked, and waited in her car while Ornelas checked her information. When Ornelas returned and informed Brooks that he was going to cite her for the speeding violation, she became upset and proceeded to become increasingly agitated and uncooperative as the incident evolved. At no time did Brooks verbally threaten the officers. She gave no indication of being armed and, behind the wheel of her car, she was not physically threatening. At most, the officers may have found her uncooperative and her agitated behavior to be potentially threatening while Brooks's keys remained in the ignition of her car. In theory, she could have attempted to drive away rapidly and recklessly, threatening the safety of bystanders or the officers. But at some point after Ornelas grabbed Brooks's arm and before Jones applied the taser to her, Ornelas removed the keys from Brooks's car ignition and the keys dropped to the car's floor. Thus, at the time Jones applied the taser to Brooks, she no longer posed even a potential threat to the officers' or others' safety, much less an immediate threat. [5] Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1280. We reiterate that this is the  `most important single element'  of the governmental interests at stake. City of Hemet, 394 F.3d at 702 (quoting Chew, 27 F.3d at 1441). The third governmental interest factor in the Graham test is whether Brooks was actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight, and any other exigent circumstances that existed at the time of the arrest. Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1280 (internal quotation marks omitted). Brooks refused to get out of her car when requested to do so and later stiffened her body and clutched her steering wheel to frustrate the officers' efforts to remove her from her car. In other words, she resisted arrest. See Chew, 27 F.3d at 1442 (fleeing and hiding from the police constitutes resisting arrest in the Graham context). We observe, however, that Brooks's resistance did not involve any violent actions towards the officers. In addition, Brooks did not attempt to flee, and there were no other exigent circumstances at the time. The facts reflect that the officers proceeded deliberately and thoughtfully, taking an aside in the midst of the incident to discuss where they should tase Brooks after they found out she was pregnant. There is no allegation that an exigent circumstance requiring the attention of one of the three officers existed somewhere else, so that the encounter with Brooks had to be resolved as quickly as possible. Still, Brooks engaged in some resistance to arrest. Finally, we must examine the totality of the circumstances and consider  `whatever specific factors may be appropriate in a particular case, whether or not listed in Graham.'  Bryan, 630 F.3d at 826 (quoting Franklin, 31 F.3d at 876). We note that Brooks bears some responsibility for the escalation of this incident, which influences the totality of these circumstances. There are, however, two other specific factors in this case that we find overwhelmingly salient. First, Brooks told Jones, before he tased her, that she was pregnant and less than 60 days from her due date. And as explained above, Jones and Ornelas paused after they learned she was pregnant and discussed where they should tase Brooks in light of this information. The record unambiguously reflects that the officers knew about and considered Brooks's pregnancy before tasing her. The second overwhelmingly salient factor here is that Jones tased Brooks three times over the course of less than one minute. Twenty-seven seconds after Jones cycled his taser as a warning, he applied the taser to Brooks. Thirty-six seconds later, he tased Brooks for the second time. Six seconds after that, Jones tased Brooks for the third time. Each time, Brooks cried out in pain. Three tasings in such rapid succession provided no time for Brooks to recover from the extreme pain she experienced, gather herself, and reconsider her refusal to comply. In sum, Brooks's alleged offenses were minor. She did not pose an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others. She actively resisted arrest insofar as she refused to get out of her car when instructed to do so and stiffened her body and clutched her steering wheel to frustrate the officers' efforts to remove her from her car. Brooks did not evade arrest by flight, and no other exigent circumstances existed at the time. She was seven months pregnant, which the officers knew, and they tased her three times within less than one minute, inflicting extreme pain on Brooks. A reasonable fact-finder could conclude, taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Brooks, that the officers' use of force was unreasonable and therefore constitutionally excessive. [6] Compare Bryan, 630 F.3d at 832 (holding that the plaintiff alleged a constitutional violation where he was tased in dart mode even though he was neither a flight risk, a dangerous felon, nor an immediate threat), and Parker v. Gerrish, 547 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.2008) (upholding a jury verdict for excessive force used against a driver stopped for speeding who admitted to drinking, exchanged hostile words with an officer, and initially resisted arrest before being tased), with Cook v. City of Bella Villa, 582 F.3d 840 (8th Cir.2009) (finding no excessive force where a lone officer tased the passenger of a car after he pulled the car over around midnight, three people got out of the car and immediately started yelling at the officer, and one passenger took a threatening step towards the officer). [7]