Attocknie v. Smith, No. 14-7053 (10th Cir. 2015)
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A deputy sheriff shot Aaron Palmer dead after entering Palmer's home to serve a bench warrant for Palmer's father, Randall Palmer. The elder Palmer failed to appear and comply with a performance contract with the drug court. The deputy thought he say Randall in Aaron's garage earlier int he day, and arranged for support from other law-enforcement officers to apprehend Randall. When he returned to the area with other officers, the deputy allegedly saw somebody who appeared to be Randall running through the garage into the house. He then sped to the front door of the house with gun drawn, pushed the door open, and fired his gun at Aaron, who was standing a few feet from the door, allegedly with a knife in his hand. Randall was not found on the premises. Aaron's widow Nicole Attocknie filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit on behalf of herself, Aaron’s child, and Aaron’s estate claiming that: (1) the deputy violated Aaron’s Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully entering the house and using excessive force; and (2) another deputy (who was not present when Aaron was shot) violated Aaron’s Fourth Amendment rights by failing to train or supervise the deputy who shot Aaron. Both deputies claimed qualified immunity, but the district court denied their motions for summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the denials of qualified immunity to the deputies: "[h]ot pursuit is the sole justification offered by the defendants for Cherry’s entry of Aaron’s home. But
Plaintiff presented sufficient evidence that Cherry was not in hot pursuit of Randall when he entered the home and that the entry was therefore unlawful. And because the use of force would only have been necessary as a result of the entry, a jury could properly find that the unlawful entry caused Aaron’s death."
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