Court Opinion

ID: 9500558
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 18:17:52.70722+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:59:58.759428
License: Public Domain

GRABER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
In my view the officers are entitled to qualified immunity. It is undisputed that the officers were justified in arresting Kanda and handcuffing her and that she had committed a battery. A reasonable officer would not necessarily know that a take-down arrest, as distinct from a standing arrest, was excessive or that a take-down on a stair landing was unreasonably dangerous. Kanda was tall, young, and big and had taken a swing at one of the officers (albeit unsuccessfully). Being drunk could have made her more dangerous, rather than less dangerous, to the officers. Our cases counsel against drawing so fine a line as police respond to an *106evolving situation. For that reason, I would affirm the district court’s decision.