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Date: 04-09-2024
Case Style:
Case Number: 4:17-cv-00336
Judge: Eric Melgren
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Donald Mitchell Bingham, David William Lee, Melvin Curtis Hall, Melvin David Riggs
Defendant's Attorney: Gerald M Bender, Jeffrey Calvin Hendrickson, Jessica Lauren Dark,
Kristina L Gray, Randall J Wood, Robert Stevens Lafferrandre, Terri Michelle McGrew
Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma personal injury lawyers represented the Plaintiff who sued the Defendants on civil rights violation theories.
Officer Betty Shelby, 43, was charged and acquitted of manslaughter in the September 2016 shooting death of Terence Crutcher, 40, during an encounter that began with the report of a stalled vehicle.
The shooting of Crutcher was captured on video. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJd4ThiQjEg
Shelby claimed she was entitled to qualified immunity from the Crutcher estate's Fourth Amendment claim that she used excessive force when she shot and killed Crutcher.
Qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity that protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff's rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right.
Outcome: Motion for summary judgment granted.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: Editor's Comment: The 10th Circuit will likely decide if the judge's action was proper under the circumstances.