Opinion ID: 72332
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedural History, Issue, Standard of Review, and the Parties' Contentions

Text: 8 Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Smith sued Mattox, the City of Tuscaloosa, and the City's Chief of Police. Smith claimed that the defendants had violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment right to be free from excessive force during an arrest. The defendants moved for summary judgment on this claim, and the district court granted Tuscaloosa's and police chief's motions but denied Mattox's. The district court concluded that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment in Mattox's case. Mattox has appealed. 9 Mattox raises only one issue in this interlocutory appeal: whether on these facts it was clearly established that his conduct violated Smith's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, thereby disentitling Mattox to qualified immunity. This court has jurisdiction over this issue on this kind of appeal, and the standard of review is de novo. 4 10 Mattox contends that no controlling, published opinion existed before June 11, 1993, the date of the arrest, that would have informed him that nondeadly force was excessive to effect an arrest if it followed the sort of flight and menacing behavior present here. Smith, on the other hand, makes two arguments: First, he contends that the search leading to the arrest itself was unconstitutional because Mattox lacked a warrant, and that no exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement applied; therefore, he concludes, any force was clearly excessive. Second, he asserts that excessive force in an arrest clearly violates the Fourth Amendment, and that the force Mattox used was so unreasonable as to be patently excessive.