Civil Rights – Qualified immunity

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 6, 2015//

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U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights – Qualified immunity

Where officers made a forcible blood draw prior to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in McNeely v. Missouri, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity.

“[W]e conclude that Seiser is controlling in this case. Here, the search at issue took place in Wisconsin on February 16, 2006. At this time, approximately seven years before McNeely, Wisconsin case law recognized a per se exigency rule in blood-alcohol cases. See Bohling, 494 N.W.2d at 402.10 Thus, Deputy Richert and Sergeant Tyson faced the same lack of clearly established law that confronted the defend-ants in Seiser. As such, they are entitled to qualified immunity.”

Affirmed.

13-3079 & 14-1041 Gerhartz v. Richert

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Randa, J., Ripple, J.

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