DAMON WILSON v. PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MARYLAND
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Keenan, June 18, 2018,
Excessive Force – It is excessive force for an officer to shoot a misdemeanor suspect standing 20 feet away who is stabbing himself with a small knife after slitting his own throat and not threatening anyone else.

Facts (in the light most favorable to Wilson):
In 2012, Damon Wilson went to the home of Mynia Johnson, his child’s mother, kicked in her door, and assaulted her. Wilson then left the area.
A PG County police officer (Officer Gill) responded to the scene. While he was speaking with the victim outside, the victim noticed Wilson approaching.
The officer walked toward Wilson when he noticed that Wilson had a small pocketknife in his hand. Wilson was approximately 20 feet away from the officer at the time.
The officer drew his service weapon and “commanded Wilson between ten and fifteen times” to drop the knife. When Wilson did not do so, the officer called for backup on the radio.
Wilson made “obscene remarks” toward his child’s mother and then began “poking” himself with the knife before he went further and “slit his throat.” Wilson stumbled and then began stabbing himself in the chest.
The officer, testifying that Wilson was “too close” at that point, then “discharged his firearm five times,
aiming for the center of Wilson’s body.”
Backup arrived and Wilson was handcuffed, at which point the officer began performing CPR.
Wilson lived and filed suit against the officer as well as Prince George’s County for excessive force and related claims.
The officer moved for judgment before trial based on qualified immunity.
The trial court held a hearing and determined that the officer’s use of force was reasonable. Based on this, the court granted judgment to the officer and dismissed several of Wilson’s claims.
Wilson appealed, arguing that it was not reasonable to shoot a man because he was stabbing himself.

Held: The Court held that, looking at the facts in the light most favorable to Wilson, those facts could show that the force was unreasonable. However, because it was not “clearly established” at the time that this force was excessive, the officer was entitled to qualified immunity for the Fourth Amendment violation.

Use of Force – Factors – The Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor laid out several factors that courts may consider in deciding whether force was reasonable (known as the “Graham Factors”):
– the severity of the crime at issue
– whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others
– whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest
– whether the suspect is attempting to evade arrest by flight

From the Case: With regard to the “severity of the crime” factor, the Court held that “Wilson does not dispute that he ‘kicked down’ Johnson’s door, entered her apartment without her consent, and assaulted her. It also is undisputed that Officer Gill knew that Wilson had committed these offenses before his encounter with Wilson. Accordingly, the first Graham factor weighs in Officer Gill’s favor.”

From the Case: With regard to the “resisting” factor, the Court wrote that, “Officer Gill had not attempted to arrest Wilson, and Wilson was not trying to evade arrest when Officer Gill repeatedly shot Wilson. Thus, this factor weighs against Officer Gill’s use of deadly force.”

From the Case: With regard to the “immediate threat to safety” factor, the Court wrote that “a jury could determine that Wilson, standing 20 feet away and armed only with a pocket knife that he was using solely against himself, did not pose an immediate threat to Officer Gill or others, thereby rendering Officer Gill’s use of lethal force unreasonable.”

Deadly Force – An officer may not use deadly force against a person who “poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others.”

Qualified Immunity – An officer is immune from suit as long as his conduct “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights”

Qualified Immunity – Law is “clearly established” when a court opinion has placed the issue “beyond debate.”

Qualified Immunity- There are two parts to a qualified immunity claim for wrongful seizure (excessive force is included within this):
(1) Was there an unconstitutional seizure?
AND (2) was this violation clearly established at the time of the alleged event such that “a reasonable officer would have understood that his conduct violated the asserted right”?

From the Case: “We hold that in October 2012, it was not clearly established that an officer would violate a suspect’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force by shooting a person who: (1) was suspected of having committed a burglary and a battery; (2) was standing about 20 feet from the officer holding a knife, inflicting harm on himself and stumbling, but not threatening others or making sudden movements; and (3) was refusing to obey the officer’s repeated commands to drop the knife at the time he was shot. We therefore conclude that Officer Gill is entitled to qualified immunity. We emphasize, however, that as of the date this opinion issues, law enforcement officers are now on notice that such conduct constitutes excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

Excessive Force – Excessive force under the 4th Amendment also violates the Maryland Declaration of Rights and also allows a lawsuit for battery under Maryland law.