Depending on the circumstance, pointing a gun at a child can constitute excessive force, even where the person holding the gun never put their hands on the child, and where the child suffered no physical injury. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this issue in Holland ex rel. Overdorff v. Harrington, 268 F.3d 1179 (10th…
The answer generally depends on what preceded the suspect’s attempt to flee, and whether the police have a reasonable belief that the suspect is dangerous. In Plumhoff v. Rickard, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police officers may shoot a fleeing suspect in a car who is considered dangerous, and that they may continue shooting…
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Baron Pikes. Pikes was shot by police in Winnfield, Louisiana with a taser gun at least eight times over 14 minutes and later died of cardiac arrest. The lawsuit against a former Winnfield…
Police have settled a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man against the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and four deputies, claiming that the deputies used excessive force against him. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. The incident took place in December 2011, after Kallas, the plaintiff, had crashed his minivan. Kallas was beaten…
Five individuals have filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer of Low-T testosterone therapy drug AndroGel. The suit has alleged that AbbVie and Abbott Laboratories concealed facts about AndroGel and serious side-effects associated with the drug. According to the suit, the manufacturer failed to adequately research the risks of stroke or heart attack from testosterone therapy,…
A judge has sentenced Marquitta Littlebear to 54 years in prison following a conviction in a DUI fatality accident that killed Susan Mamary in February 2012. According to reports, Littlebear was driving under the influence of alcohol, and had marijuana and cocaine in her system. She was also driving with two children in the car,…
The Tacoma News Tribune is reporting that the ACLU and Columbia Legal Services have dropped a lawsuit alleging that solitary confinement was used to retaliate against a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center. The article says that the lawsuit was ended after “the release of about two dozen detainees from isolation.” ICE spokesman Andrew…
Litigation involving the drug Actos (Pioglitazone) is continuing in the class actions posture following a verdict in a bellweather case in excess of $9 billion dollars. The manufacturer of Actos,Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., made more than $16 billion before Actos went generic in 2012. While internal records show that Takeda knew about a link between Actos…
