4th Amendment Violation – Deprivation of Rights

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Estate of Eric Jack Logan v. City of South Bend, Indiana

Case No.: 21-2922

Officials: EASTERBROOK, SCUDDER, and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 4th Amendment Violation – Deprivation of Rights

Police officer O’Neill shot and killed Logan after Logan walked menacingly toward him. During a 3:30 am encounter, while O’Neill was investigating reports that someone was stealing items from parked cars, Logan picked up a hunting knife and approached O’Neill. The officer told Logan to stand still and put down the weapon. Logan did neither, held the knife up, and came within three steps of O’Neill. Logan threw the knife, hitting O’Neill in the arm, and O’Neill fired his gun, hitting Logan in the torso. Only after being shot did Logan obey the command to get on the ground. Logan’s estate filed suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983, accusing O’Neill of violating the Fourth Amendment (applied to state actors by the Fourteenth) by using deadly force when he was not in danger. See Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of O’Neill and his employer, the City of South Bend.

The Estate conceded that O’Neill would be entitled to prevail if he had pulled the trigger while the knife was still in Logan’s hand; the court ruled that the use of force remains reasonable after a suspect employs a weapon, has not surrendered, and thus remains dangerous.

O’Neill left Logan with a chance to live and should not be penalized for doing so. The fact that many shootings by police eliminate an important source of evidence is troubling, but litigation remains tied to the record.

Affirmed

Decided 10/03/22

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