Lorenzo Clerkley, Jr. v. Kyle Holomb, and City of Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma civil rights lawyers represented the Plaintiff who claimed police officer used excessive force when he shot him.

In March 2019, a group of teenage boys entered a vacant house to play with

BB guns. A concerned neighbor called 911, and Officer Kyle Holcomb and an

Oklahoma City Police Department colleague responded. Within minutes, Holcomb

shot and injured one of the boys: 14-year-old Lorenzo Clerkley.



Clerkley sued Holcomb under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his Fourth

Amendment right to be free from excessive force. Holcomb moved for summary

judgment on qualified-immunity grounds, asserting that his use of force was

reasonable because he saw Clerkley pointing a gun at him. Clerkley maintained that

his hands were empty when Holcomb fired. Accepting Clerkley's version of events,

the district court held that Holcomb's use of force violated clearly established Fourth

Amendment law.



Excessive force claims are governed by the Fourth Amendment's

"'reasonableness' standard.” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 (1989). An

officer's use of force is unconstitutional if it is "objectively unreasonable” as "judged

from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene.” Id. at 396–97. We evaluate

reasonableness considering the totality of the "facts and circumstances,” with

particular attention to three factors identified in Graham: "[1] the severity of the

crime at issue, [2] whether the [person] poses an immediate threat to the safety of the

officers or others, and [3] whether [the person] is actively resisting arrest or

attempting to evade arrest by flight.” Id. at 396

Defendant's motion for summary judgement denied.



Affirmed on appeal.