Opinion ID: 785775
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary Judgment for Officer Gordon

Text: 22 To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the moving party must show that there are no genuine issues of material fact, and that when any disputed facts are viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Cowan v. Breen, 352 F.3d 756, 760 (2d Cir.2003). Davis claims that the reasonableness of Gordon's actions was a genuine issue of material fact that should have been presented to a jury. Davis argues that a jury could have found that after Rodriguez and Rivera had subdued Davis, Gordon's actions were unnecessary and unreasonable and that by pointing his shotgun at Davis's head, Gordon subjected Davis to an illegal seizure and excessive force in violation of Davis's constitutional rights. We disagree. Taking the facts in the light most favorable to Davis, there is simply no evidence of any constitutional violation by Gordon. 23 To establish a claim of excessive force, a plaintiff must show that the force used by the officer was, in light of the facts and circumstances confronting him, `objectively unreasonable' under Fourth Amendment standards. Finnegan v. Fountain, 915 F.2d 817, 823 (2d Cir.1990). It is clear that when Gordon arrived, the struggle between Rodriguez, Rivera and Davis was either still going on or just concluding. Regardless of how the struggle started or whether there had been wrongdoing by Rodriguez and Rivera, unless there were at that point significant (to Gordon) indications to the contrary, Gordon was entitled to rely on his fellow officers' determination that the arrest in process was lawful. See Loria v. Gorman, 306 F.3d 1271, 1288 (2d Cir.2002). Moreover, Davis alleges only that Gordon pointed his shotgun at Davis's head and ordered him to roll over. Under the circumstances as Gordon found them, we cannot say that a jury could have properly found his actions unreasonable. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Gordon. 24