Opinion ID: 448248
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The judgment against Carpenter for common law battery

Text: 46 On appeal the parties brief Count 3 as a Sec. 1983 claim. It is not. It was not submitted to the jury as such, and the harm inflicted on Audrey would be insufficient as a matter of law to rise to the level of a constitutional violation. The LeSavages did not allege any abuse of government power sufficient to raise an ordinary tort to the level of a constitutional violation, Williams v. Kelley, 624 F.2d 695 (1980, cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1019, 101 S.Ct. 3009, 69 L.Ed.2d 391 (1981), nor did the proof tend to show any such abuse. There was sufficient evidence to support a jury inference that Carpenter, in arresting Audrey, grasped her arm with excessive force and bruised the arm. This is a simple common law battery claim and tried as such. We affirm the judgment against Carpenter in the amount of $1,500. 47