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Prosperv.Martin

CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Docket No.19-12857
DecidedMarch 5, 2021
JudgesChief Judge William Pryor and Circuit Judges Tjoflat and Hull
Tags
CivilCivil RightsFourth AmendmentSection 1983Qualified ImmunitySummary Judgment
Case Summary

The estate of Junior Prosper alleged that Miami-Dade Officer Anthony Martin used excessive force during an encounter after Prosper’s taxi crashed near I-95; Martin tased Prosper and shot him three times, killing him. The Eleventh Circuit upheld exclusion of the estate’s experts: a reconstruction expert’s reading of the blurry surveillance video added nothing jurors could not see, and a neurologist’s opinion about Prosper’s possible condition did not bear on what Martin could know at the time. Because the video could not support the estate’s account, the court assessed Martin’s version: Prosper ignored commands near fast-moving traffic, struck Martin, resisted repeated Taser use, and bit down on Martin’s finger without releasing it. The court held the Taser and deadly force objectively reasonable under those circumstances and affirmed summary judgment for Martin on the estate’s Fourth Amendment claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Opinion

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