Perla Enriquez, et al. v. Jared Cosper, et al.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, civil rights lawyer represented the Plaintiff who sued on a personal injury wrongful death civil rights violation theory.



This case arises from the fatal shooting of Amelia Baca, a 75-year-old, mentally diminished woman in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Estate filed a complaint alleging that the police officer who shot her acted with excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The district court granted the officer summary judgment on qualified-immunity grounds, reasoning that the Estate had not raised a genuine dispute of material fact about the officer's claim that he in fact perceived that Ms. Baca presented an immediate danger of serious bodily harm to himself and others. We conclude that the district court

erred. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Estate, a reasonable jury could find a Fourth Amendment excessive-force violation. We also conclude that such a violation would have been clearly established under

controlling law on the date of the shooting. So exercising our jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291,



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the District Court granted the Defendants' motions for summary judgment.



Reversed.