Police officers sometimes have the legal authority to use deadly force. But that authority is not unlimited. When a police officer shoots someone without sufficient legal justification, the shooting may violate the United States Constitution and give rise to a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Police shooting cases are among the most serious forms of excessive force litigation. They often involve catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, or death. They can also require an immediate and detailed investigation of body-camera footage, physical evidence, witness accounts, medical records, and the circumstances confronting the officer at the precise moment shots were fired.
If you or a family member was shot, seriously injured, or killed by a police officer in Georgia, it is important to understand how federal civil rights law applies to police use of deadly force.
When Is a Police Shooting Unconstitutional?
Police shootings are often analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable seizures.
The Supreme Court has held that an officer’s use of force must be evaluated based on whether it was objectively reasonable under the circumstances. Courts consider the facts confronting the officer rather than simply accepting an officer’s assertion that force was necessary.
Deadly force is different from an ordinary arrest technique. Shooting someone can cause death or catastrophic injury, and the Constitution places significant restrictions on when police may use that level of force.
Important questions in a police shooting case can include:
- Was the person armed?
- Did the officer reasonably believe the person presented an immediate threat?
- Was a weapon pointed at the officer or anyone else?
- Was the person advancing toward or moving away from the officer?
- Was the person attempting to surrender?
- Was the person fleeing?
- What commands, if any, did the officer give?
- Did the person have an opportunity to comply?
- How far apart were the officer and the person who was shot?
- How many shots did the officer fire?
- Did the officer continue firing after the alleged threat ended?
- What does body-camera or dash-camera footage show?
- Is the officer’s account consistent with the physical and forensic evidence?
The legality of a police shooting can turn on seconds—or even fractions of a second—which is why the evidence must be examined carefully.
Can Police Shoot an Unarmed Person?
There is no rule that automatically makes every shooting of an unarmed person unconstitutional. But whether the person actually possessed a weapon can be extremely important to determining whether the officer’s perception and use of deadly force were reasonable.
A case involving someone visibly holding a firearm can present very different circumstances from one involving a person with empty hands.
There can also be disputes about whether an officer reasonably mistook another object for a weapon, whether the officer actually saw a weapon before firing, or whether a weapon was positioned in a way that presented an immediate threat.
Video and physical evidence can be particularly important in resolving those questions.
Can Police Shoot Someone Who Is Running Away?
Running from police does not automatically authorize an officer to shoot.
In Tennessee v. Garner, the United States Supreme Court rejected a broad rule permitting police to use deadly force simply because a felony suspect was fleeing.
Whether an officer can constitutionally use deadly force against a fleeing person depends on the particular circumstances, including the threat the person presents.
This distinction can become especially important when evidence shows that a person was shot in the back or was moving away from officers when the shots were fired. The direction a person was moving is important evidence, but it is not necessarily dispositive by itself. The entire sequence must be examined.
What About Police Shooting at a Moving Vehicle?
Police shootings involving vehicles can raise particularly complicated excessive force issues.
An officer may claim that a vehicle was being used as a deadly weapon and that firing was necessary to protect the officer or another person.
But the details matter.
Where was the officer standing? Which direction was the vehicle traveling? Was the officer actually in the vehicle’s path? Had the vehicle already passed the officer when shots were fired? Was the vehicle moving toward other people? From what direction did the bullets enter the vehicle?
Body-camera footage, dash-camera video, vehicle damage, bullet trajectories, surveillance footage, and scene measurements can help reconstruct what actually occurred.
What If Police Shoot a Passenger or Bystander?
Police gunfire can also injure or kill passengers and innocent bystanders.
Those cases can present additional constitutional questions because a federal excessive force claim may depend on whether the injured person was legally “seized” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
The analysis can therefore be different from a case in which police intentionally shoot the person they are attempting to apprehend.
Someone injured by police gunfire should not assume that the absence of criminal suspicion against them means there is either automatically a federal claim or no claim at all. The specific facts matter.
Section 1983 Lawsuits for Police Shootings
A person whose federal constitutional rights were violated by a state or local police officer may be able to bring a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Section 1983 is the federal statute commonly used in police excessive force litigation. It allows individuals to seek relief when someone acting under color of state law deprives them of federally protected rights.
An unconstitutional police shooting can potentially support a Section 1983 claim against the officer who fired the weapon.
Whether additional defendants can be held liable is a separate question. A city, county, police department, sheriff, supervisor, or other governmental entity is not automatically liable simply because it employed the officer.
Claims against governmental entities can involve additional requirements, including the rules governing municipal liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services.
Officers may also assert qualified immunity, making the applicable constitutional precedent particularly important.
Evidence in a Police Shooting Lawsuit
A thorough police shooting investigation should go beyond the initial police report.
Potentially important evidence can include:
- Body-worn camera footage
- Dash-camera footage
- 911 calls
- Police radio communications
- Computer-aided dispatch records
- Surveillance footage
- Cellphone videos
- Photographs
- Witness statements
- Officer reports and supplemental reports
- Firearms evidence
- Shell casings
- Bullet trajectories
- Autopsy findings
- Medical records
- Vehicle damage
- Electronic vehicle data
- Scene measurements
- Internal investigations
Video can be especially important because an officer’s written report may not tell the entire story.
In some cases, reviewing video frame by frame can reveal exactly where the parties were positioned when each shot was fired and whether circumstances changed during the shooting.
Why Evidence Should Be Preserved Quickly
Evidence does not necessarily remain available forever.
Businesses and residences may have surveillance systems that automatically overwrite footage. Witnesses become harder to locate. Vehicles may be repaired or destroyed. Physical scenes change.
For that reason, preservation letters and other investigative steps may need to be taken quickly after a serious police shooting.
A family should preserve any photographs, videos, messages, witness information, medical documents, and other materials relating to the incident.
What Damages Can Be Recovered After a Police Shooting?
Police shootings can result in some of the most serious injuries encountered in civil rights litigation.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, recoverable damages may include compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Permanent physical injuries
- Disability
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Emotional and psychological injuries
- Other legally recoverable losses
When police gunfire results in death, additional wrongful death and estate claims may potentially be available.
Punitive damages may also be recoverable against an individual defendant in a Section 1983 case when the applicable legal standard is satisfied.
Federal law may additionally permit a prevailing plaintiff in a Section 1983 action to seek reasonable attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
The potential value of a police shooting case depends on the specific evidence, injuries, damages, defendants, available defenses, and applicable law. There is no standard settlement value for a police shooting lawsuit.
What Happens When a Police Shooting Causes Death?
A fatal police shooting can create both federal and state-law issues.
There may be a federal civil rights claim based on the constitutional violation as well as claims arising under Georgia’s wrongful death or estate laws.
Determining who has the legal authority to pursue those claims is important. Depending on the circumstances, different claims may belong to the victim’s estate or particular surviving family members.
Fatal police shooting cases can also involve substantial evidence beyond what is normally available in an excessive force case, including autopsy reports, forensic pathology, bullet trajectories, ballistics evidence, and evidence concerning the victim’s economic losses.
What If Police Say the Shooting Was Justified?
A police department may conduct its own investigation and conclude that an officer’s actions complied with departmental policy or were justified.
That does not necessarily determine whether the shooting violated federal constitutional law.
An administrative investigation, criminal investigation, and civil rights lawsuit involve different legal questions and standards.
A civil rights attorney can independently examine the evidence rather than relying exclusively on the conclusions reached by the agency whose officer was involved in the shooting.
Should You Speak With a Police Shooting Lawyer?
Police shooting cases can involve constitutional law, qualified immunity, forensic evidence, video analysis, medical evidence, wrongful death law, and complicated questions concerning governmental liability.
They can also involve evidence that needs to be preserved quickly.
If you or a family member was shot, seriously injured, or killed by law enforcement in Georgia, an attorney can investigate the circumstances and determine whether there may be a viable civil rights claim.
About Blake Weiner Law
Blake Weiner Law represents individuals in serious police misconduct and excessive force cases in Georgia and Virginia.
Blake Weiner is a former DOJ prosecutor and former federal judicial law clerk. He now represents individuals in criminal defense and civil rights matters, including cases involving alleged police misconduct and unconstitutional uses of force.
If you or a family member was seriously injured or killed in a police shooting, contact Blake Weiner Law to discuss the circumstances of the case.
