Whether the Tenth Circuit erred in denying qualified immunity to law enforcement officers without conducting an individualized analysis of excessive force

On the evening of July 1, 2019, Wagoner County Lieutenant Elizabeth Crockett and Deputy Matthew Lott responded to a call from deputies requesting assistance for one suspect fighting. At the time Petitioners Crockett and Lott arrived at the scene, the suspect was prone on the ground in handcuffs and was struggling with other officers. Petitioner Crockett, after observing the suspect kick one of the officers, knelt on his left buttock and left upper thigh for between forty-five seconds to one minute total, and assisted in placing him in leg irons. She then went to her car, where she had no further contact with him. Petitioner Lott placed his foot at the top of the suspect’s right shoulder for approximately one minute. At the request of another officer, Petitioner Lott left to retrieve a hobble chain from his patrol car, handed it to the officers, and then left the immediate area. Shortly thereafter, the suspect began experiencing breathing problems, and was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he was subsequently pronounced dead. The District Court and the Tenth Circuit denied Petitioners Crockett and Lott qualified immunity with regard to the Respondents’ Fourth Amendment excessive force claim. The questions presented are: 1) Whether the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in denying qualified immunity to the Petitioner law enforcement officers on the issue of excessive force without conducting an individualized qualified immunity analysis, but rather engaged in a collective qualified immunity analysis which considered the aggregate actions of multiple officers at the scene. ii 2) Whether, in denying qualified immunity the Tenth Circuit evaluated whether the right at issue was “clearly established” at an impermissibly high level of generality, contrary to this Court’s repeated warnings, including in Kisela v. Hughes , 584 U.S. 100 (2018); City & County of San Francisco v. Sheehan , 575 U.S. 600 (2015); and Ashcroft v. al-Kidd , 563 U.S. 731 (2011). 3) Whether the existing law would make it clear to a reasonable law enforcement officer when a suspect is “effectively subdued” such that using further force against them would be objectively unreasonable.