Flowers v. Renfro

Ct. of Appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction defendant-police officer’s appeal of Dist. Ct.’s order that denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s section 1983 action, alleging that defendant used excessive force during plaintiff’s arrest, where Dist. Ct. had rejected defendant’s claim of qualified immunity. Plaintiff claimed that defendant had slammed him down face first and knocked out tooth, while plaintiff was talking to different off-duty officer. Dist. Ct.‘s denial was based on unappealable finding that genuine issues of material fact existed with respect to whether plaintiff had resisted police officer, as well as nature of defendant’s takedown of plaintiff, which precluded summary judgment on issue of qualified immunity. Moreover, while defendant insisted that he used reasonable force, defendant did so only in reliance on his own version of facts. As such, Ct. of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to consider instant interlocutory appeal.