Opinion ID: 795446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: conclusion

Text: 68 We wish to emphasize that, although we are granting qualified immunity to the THP troopers on most aspects of the Smoaks' claims, we do not condone the actions of law enforcement in this case. That said, a multitude of factors contributed to this unfortunate incident. James Smoak was careless in leaving his wallet on the roof of his car. Veronica Louwien likely exaggerated the speed of James's vehicle and the amount of money that was flying all over the Interstate. The dispatchers were dilatory in giving the troopers in the field a full account of what they knew. Finally, the troopers on the ground overreacted to the situation they faced. Yet the only two factors that were clearly beyond the pale in the entire unfortunate incident were the killing of the Smoaks' dog and the injury to James's knee. The first of these factors has been resolved by the Smoaks' stipulation to drop Hall, the shooter of the dog, as a defendant in this case. We have now resolved the other factor by denying qualified immunity to Andrews and Bush on the claim that they used excessive force in restraining James after the dog was shot. 69 The validity of all of the other claims of unreasonable seizure and excessive force have been demonstrated through the benefit of hindsight, but these constitutional violations committed by the THP troopers were not so clearly established at the time as to deny the defendants the benefits of qualified immunity. Although events like these can shake our faith in the ability of law enforcement to punish wrongdoers and protect the innocent, we must remember that police officers walk a fine line between upholding the liberty interests guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment and properly performing their job. The Fourth Amendment was violated in this case, but qualified immunity exists so that reasonable mistakes made while walking this line do not serve as a deterrent to effective law enforcement. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 206, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (holding that qualified immunity is designed to protect officers from the sometimes hazy border between excessive and acceptable force and to ensure that before they are subjected to suit, officers are on notice their conduct is unlawful) (citation and quotation marks omitted). 70 For all of the reasons set forth above, we REVERSE the district court's denial of qualified immunity with respect to all aspects of the Smoaks' claims other than James Smoak's claim of excessive force against THP troopers Andrews and Bush. As to this latter claim, we AFFIRM the district court's denial of qualified immunity and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.