Yes. If a police officer uses excessive force against you in Georgia, you may be able to bring a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officer and, in some circumstances, other responsible parties.
Police officers are allowed to use reasonable force when making an arrest or protecting themselves or others. But that authority has limits. The Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable seizures, which includes the use of excessive force by law enforcement.
Whether force is excessive depends heavily on the circumstances. An officer may be justified in using significant force against someone who poses an immediate threat, while the same force could be unconstitutional when used against someone who is unarmed, compliant, restrained, or no longer resisting.
If you believe you were the victim of excessive force or police brutality in Georgia, understanding these distinctions is important.
What Is Considered Excessive Force in Georgia?
There is no rule that automatically makes a particular type of force excessive. Instead, courts generally ask whether the officer’s actions were objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
The Supreme Court established this framework in Graham v. Connor. Courts considering an excessive force claim examine the circumstances confronting the officer, including:
- the seriousness of the suspected offense;
- whether the person posed an immediate threat to officers or others;
- whether the person was actively resisting arrest; and
- whether the person was attempting to flee.
Courts may also consider the need for force, the amount of force used in relation to that need, and the injuries caused.
This means context matters enormously. The fact that an officer punched, tackled, tased, or otherwise injured someone does not by itself establish excessive force. The central question is why that level of force was reasonably necessary at that particular moment.
Can You Sue the Police for Using a Taser in Georgia?
Potentially.
Police officers do not have unlimited authority to use a Taser simply because someone is being arrested.
The Eleventh Circuit—the federal appellate court whose decisions govern federal courts in Georgia—has repeatedly considered whether Taser use amounts to excessive force.
For example, courts have recognized that continued Taser use can become unconstitutional when a person has stopped resisting. The fact that an initial Taser deployment may have been justified does not necessarily mean that additional deployments are justified.
Relevant questions can include:
- Was the person armed?
- Was the person threatening anyone?
- Was the person actively resisting?
- Was the person attempting to flee?
- Did the officer give commands or warnings?
- Was the person physically capable of complying?
- Did the officer continue using the Taser after the person was on the ground or under control?
These cases are extremely fact-specific. Body-camera footage can therefore be particularly important.
Can Police Use Force If You Are Not Resisting?
An officer generally cannot use significant force simply because a person has been arrested.
The Eleventh Circuit has repeatedly recognized constitutional limits on gratuitous force against people who are under control, not resisting, and complying with officers.
For example, a person may have a potentially viable excessive force claim when an officer punches, kicks, tases, slams, or otherwise uses significant force against them after they have already surrendered or been restrained.
One of the most important questions in many police misconduct cases is therefore not simply whether the person resisted at some point during the encounter. It is what the person was doing at the exact moment the officer used the challenged force.
Someone might initially resist an officer but later surrender. Force that was reasonable during the struggle can become unreasonable once the threat or resistance ends.
Can You Sue for Excessive Force Even If the Arrest Was Legal?
Yes.
A lawful arrest does not give police unlimited authority to use force.
False arrest and excessive force are different constitutional claims. An officer may have probable cause to arrest someone but still violate the Fourth Amendment by using an unreasonable amount of force while carrying out that arrest.
For example, suppose police have probable cause to arrest someone for a crime. The person complies, puts their hands behind their back, and is handcuffed. If an officer then gratuitously strikes or tases that person, the existence of probable cause for the arrest does not necessarily excuse the subsequent use of force.
The legality of the arrest and the legality of the force therefore may require separate analysis.
What If You Were Charged With Obstruction or Resisting Arrest?
Being charged with obstruction or another offense does not automatically eliminate an excessive force claim.
Again, timing matters.
A person might resist an officer during one portion of an encounter but later stop resisting. Courts can examine whether additional force was reasonably necessary after the resistance ended.
Likewise, the mere fact that police accuse someone of resisting does not establish that the person actually posed a threat or resisted at the moment force was used.
This is one reason body-worn camera footage, surveillance video, cellphone recordings, dispatch records, witness statements, and other contemporaneous evidence can be critical in police excessive force cases.
What Types of Police Force Can Lead to a Lawsuit?
An excessive force claim can arise from many different types of police conduct, including:
- Tasers;
- punches or kicks;
- unnecessary takedowns or body slams;
- police dogs;
- baton strikes;
- pepper spray;
- chokeholds or other restraints;
- excessive force against a handcuffed person; and
- police shootings.
There is no automatic rule that one of these techniques is constitutional or unconstitutional. The question is whether the amount and type of force were reasonable given the circumstances at the time.
What If You Were Handcuffed When Police Used Force?
Force used against someone who is already handcuffed can raise particularly serious constitutional concerns.
Handcuffs do not automatically make every subsequent use of force unconstitutional. A handcuffed person could still pose a threat or actively resist.
But when someone is restrained, under control, and no longer resisting, the government’s justification for significant additional force becomes substantially weaker.
The Eleventh Circuit has found excessive force in circumstances involving force against secured and handcuffed individuals who posed little or no threat.
What Evidence Is Important in a Georgia Excessive Force Case?
Evidence should be preserved as quickly as possible after an encounter with police.
Important evidence may include:
- body-worn camera footage;
- dash-camera footage;
- surveillance video;
- cellphone recordings;
- photographs of injuries;
- hospital and medical records;
- 911 calls;
- police radio and dispatch communications;
- incident and use-of-force reports;
- photographs of the scene;
- witness statements;
- officer disciplinary or training records where discoverable and relevant; and
- records from the related criminal case.
Photographs can be particularly important. Injuries often heal long before a civil case reaches discovery or trial.
A person who believes excessive force was used against them should preserve photographs, videos, medical paperwork, names of witnesses, and any other available evidence.
Can You Sue the Police Under Section 1983?
Many police excessive force lawsuits are brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Section 1983 allows individuals to bring civil lawsuits against state or local government officials who violate federally protected rights while acting under color of state law.
For an excessive force claim arising during an arrest or other seizure, the constitutional right involved is generally the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures.
A successful civil rights case may potentially permit recovery for damages caused by the constitutional violation.
Can You Sue the Police Department or City Too?
Sometimes, but not simply because the officer worked for the department or local government.
Claims against municipalities under § 1983 are governed by different rules from claims against individual officers. A city or county generally is not automatically liable merely because it employed an officer who violated someone’s constitutional rights.
Depending on the evidence, municipal liability can potentially arise from an unconstitutional policy, custom, practice, or certain failures in training or supervision. These claims are highly fact-dependent and require a separate legal analysis.
What Is Qualified Immunity?
Qualified immunity is a defense that frequently arises in lawsuits against individual police officers.
In general, it can protect government officials from civil liability unless the plaintiff can show that the official violated a constitutional right that was clearly established under the circumstances.
Qualified immunity can make police misconduct litigation complicated. It is not enough in every case simply to show that an officer acted improperly. The particular constitutional violation may also need to have been sufficiently clear under existing law.
Because Georgia is within the Eleventh Circuit, Eleventh Circuit and Supreme Court decisions are especially important when analyzing whether an officer is entitled to qualified immunity.
How Much Is an Excessive Force Lawsuit Worth?
There is no standard settlement amount for a police excessive force case.
The potential value depends on numerous factors, including:
- the seriousness and permanence of the injuries;
- medical expenses;
- lost income;
- pain and suffering;
- emotional and psychological harm;
- the strength of the video and other evidence;
- the nature of the officer’s conduct;
- available defendants and insurance or indemnification issues; and
- the strength of the constitutional claim.
A case involving temporary minor injuries is very different from one involving permanent disability, significant hospitalization, or death.
The strength of the liability evidence matters as well. Clear body-camera or surveillance footage can dramatically affect how a case is evaluated.
How Long Do You Have to File an Excessive Force Lawsuit in Georgia?
You should not wait to investigate a potential police misconduct claim.
Federal civil rights claims under § 1983 generally borrow the state’s limitations period for personal-injury actions. But determining the actual filing deadline can involve additional federal and state-law issues, and other potential claims may have different deadlines or notice requirements.
More importantly, evidence can disappear long before the statute of limitations expires. Surveillance footage may be overwritten, witnesses become harder to locate, and records can become more difficult to obtain.
If you believe police used excessive force against you, having the incident investigated promptly can help preserve evidence.
What Should You Do After Experiencing Police Excessive Force?
If you believe a Georgia police officer used excessive force against you, preserve as much evidence as possible.
Keep photographs and videos. Save medical records and discharge paperwork. Write down the names of witnesses. Preserve texts or messages discussing the incident. Do not delete relevant cellphone footage.
If criminal charges resulted from the encounter, speak with your criminal defense lawyer before making public statements about what occurred. Statements made about a potential civil case can sometimes affect the related criminal case.
An attorney evaluating a potential civil rights claim can also seek relevant police records and video and determine whether the facts support a federal constitutional claim.
Georgia Police Misconduct and Excessive Force Lawyer
Blake Weiner Law represents individuals in civil rights and police misconduct matters, including claims involving excessive force, false arrest, and other alleged Fourth Amendment violations.
Blake Weiner is a former federal prosecutor and former federal judicial law clerk who now represents individuals in criminal defense and civil rights cases. His experience includes federal civil rights litigation and jury trials involving alleged constitutional violations by law enforcement.
If you believe a police officer used excessive force against you in Georgia, contact Blake Weiner Law to discuss having the incident evaluated.
