Court Opinion

ID: 9474067
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:46:57.651079+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:52.978488
License: Public Domain

ENGEL, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
In my opinion, this case was properly brought on for trial upon both the federal and pendent state claims. After reviewing the evidence at trial, I am satisfied that the trial judge properly complied with United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966), in entering judgment and determining damages in favor of the plaintiffs on the basis of Tennessee state law.
The defendant police officers were placed in a very dangerous and unenviable position, brought about in great part by the irrational behavior of the plaintiff, Thomas Lewis, and his family. Under the circumstances, I am far from satisfied that the conduct of the police officers, even though it may have been violative of Tennessee’s law of assault and battery, was of a quality or seriousness to reach proportions amounting to a violation of federal constitutional law. Accordingly, I content myself to concur on the basis that the judgment as entered is in any event fully supportable upon the basis of the trial judge’s findings on the pendent state law claims.