Shreve v. Jessamine Cnty
Torts: Section 1983 Action
Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington
06a0235p.06 7/7/2006
ROGERS, Circuit Judge. This appeal seeks reversal of the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant sheriff’s deputies, who allegedly used excessive force in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and state law when they arrested plaintiff Lori Shreve. Shreve further alleges that the deputies unlawfully entered and searched her home to arrest her in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The defendants include the Jessamine County Fiscal Court, and the deputies in their official capacity. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of all the defendants, holding that no constitutional violation occurred. The district court also held that the deputies lawfully searched Shreve’s home to find and arrest her pursuant to a valid misdemeanor arrest warrant.
Summary judgment was not warranted on Shreve’s excessive force claim because she has provided sufficient, if spare, evidence of a violation of her clearly established right to be free from excessive police force in the course of arrest. Summary judgment was however warranted with respect to Shreve’s claims for unlawful entry and search of her home to arrest her. Like our sister circuits we read Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980), to permit forcible entry into the home to search for and arrest a suspect pursuant to a valid arrest warrant, regardless of whether the arrest is for a misdemeanor or a felony. We therefore affirm in part and reverse in part.
