A federal jury returned a $2.58 million verdict against the town of Cicero and five officers, as well as a jail employee for actions taken during a September 2000 baptismal party in which 79 plaintiffs claimed that officers used pepper spray against attendees. The award was made in favor of 23 of the plaintiffs, which no damages were awarded to 56 of the plaintiffs. Alejandro Duran, et al. v. Town of Cicero, et al., No. 01 C 6858 (U.S. District Ct., N.D. Ill.), reported in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Volume: 154 Issue: 033 (February 15, 2008).
     Arrestee's allegation that a police officer used mace on him after he had been handcuffed and subdued was sufficient to defeat the officer's motion to dismiss in an excessive force lawsuit, when there was no evidence that the arrestee was acting violently, posing a threat to others, or resisting arrest at the time. Hall v. Alabama Dept. of Public Safety, No. 06-15743, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 23099 (11th Cir.).
     Utah state troopers were entitled to qualified immunity on their use of pepper spray on a motorist who continued to resist them and disregard their instructions throughout a fifty-minute traffic stop. Under these circumstances, the troopers acted objectively reasonably in using pepper spray against her. Mecham v. Frazier, No. 05-4297, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 21810 (10th Cir.).
     Police officers were not entitled to qualified immunity for allegedly spraying pepper spray inside a house filled with 34 people after telling several of them to "get inside" the house when they arrived. If, as the plaintiffs claimed, they were subjected to pepper spray after they were detained, without any provocation, that would violate their clearly established constitutional rights. Duran v. Sirgedas, No. 05-4278, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 10338 (7th Cir.).
     Police officers did not violate a man's rights by using pepper spray on him in the back seat of their car, where they placed him after finding him intoxicated. The officers feared that he was suicidal, based on his behavior, and were trying to assist him. He was unsecured in the backseat of the car because he was uncooperative, and he started kicking the plexiglass separating the front and backseats, and beating his head on it. The pepper spray was only used after it was clear that repeated orders would not cause him to stop this behavior, and after the man was given a warning about the use of the spray, and was motivated by a fear that the man might harm himself. After they cleaned the residue of the pepper spray off of his face outside the police/fire station, he attempted to stand up, despite their statements that he should not try to do so, and fell, hitting his head and suffering injuries that allegedly led to his death from a swelling on his brain. The court found that the decedent would not have suffered his fatal fall except for his own conduct in disregarding the warnings of the defendant officers, so that they could not be held liable for his death. Cabaniss v. City of Riverside, No. 06-3546, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 8271 (6th Cir.).
     In a lawsuit over the death of a man weighing almost 350 pounds with PCP and cocaine in his bloodstream who allegedly struggled with police and resisted their attempts to arrest him outside a fast food restaurant, the plaintiffs claimed that the officers used excessive force, unnecessarily striking him with metal batons and causing him to suffer respiratory failure from positional asphyxia when they sat on him, after spraying a chemical irritant (pepper spray) in his face. The trial court found that the plaintiffs sufficiently stated a claim that the officers who apprehended him used excessive force against him, as the confrontation began simply because firefighters who encountered him perceived him as creating a "nuisance," which is "not the type of crime" permitting officers to use a greater use of force. It was disputed whether the decedent subsequently was resisting arrest, or was simply trying to position himself so that he could breathe. Additionally, the plaintiffs in the case alleged that the officers used pepper spray against the decedent after he was already face down and was being handcuffed, which the court stated, if true, could also constitute an excessive use of force. The officers were not entitled to qualified immunity because a reasonable officer might have known that engaging in the alleged acts violated the decedent's right to be free from excessive force. The court granted a motion to dismiss claims by the plaintiffs against the firefighters, who left the scene before some of the incidents that resulted in the decedent's death, and against police supervisors and a fire chief. It denied a motion to dismiss claims against the police officers involved in the incident. Jones v. City of Cincinnati, No. 1:04-CV-616, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 75430, 2006 WL 2987820 (S.D. Ohio). [N/R]
     Use of gas gun against demonstrators outside the home where INS agents were executing warrants to remove Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was objectively reasonable when demonstrators were attempting to interfere and threw objects at the agents. Dalrymple v. U.S., No. 05-14375, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 20922 (11th Cir.). [2006 LR Oct]
     Deputy sheriffs were not entitled to summary judgment in an excessive force lawsuit by woman arrested by them in her home pursuant to a warrant. Her version of the events, including that they beat her with a billy club and jumped on her after she was incapacitated by pepper spray and was only passively resisting, if true, showed an excessive use of force. The use of pepper spray was not excessive, however, since she was hiding from them under a blanket in a closet at the time, and could have been thought to be planning to "ambush" them. Shreve v. Jessamine County Fiscal Court, No. 05-6271, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 16957 (6th Cir.). [2006 LR Sep]
     Police officers, including S.W.A.T team members, were entitled to qualified immunity for surrounding the home of a man who had fired shots into the air and ground nearby, entering the home forcibly without a warrant, and using pepper gas and a flashbang in an attempt to flush him out. Assuming that the use of a second flashbang, which burned down the house, was excessive, it still did not violate any "clearly established right." Factual disputes about whether the suspect was still armed and was threatening officers at the time they shot and killed him, however, barred qualified immunity for the officers on a claim that the use of deadly force was excessive. Estate of Bing v. City of Whitehall, No. 05-3889, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 19287 (6th Cir.). [2006 LR Sep]
     Officer was not entitled to qualified immunity on arrestee's claim that he sprayed pepper spray in his face while he was lying on the ground with both hands cuffed and another officer on top of him. Such use of force, after the arrestee had been subdued, if true, could not be said to be objectively reasonable as a matter of law. Henderson v. Munn, No. 05-1403, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 5010 (8th Cir. February 28, 2006). [2006 LR Apr]
     Officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on arrestee's claim that they used excessive force by using pepper spray against him and hitting him repeatedly with a baton while he was seated in his truck after a traffic stop. Arrestee claimed that he had not resisted the officers or tried to flee, and that he was "passive" and cooperative. Reed v. City of Lavonia, No. 3:03-CV-111, 390 F. Supp. 2d. 1347 (M.D. Ga. 2005). [N/R]
     Police officers who encountered an intoxicated man who threatened his wife, disabled her car, and refused to cooperate with being arrested and handcuffed did not act unreasonably in using physical force and mace to subdue him. They could reasonably believe, under the circumstances, that he posed a threat to his wife, children, others present, and themselves. Wilson v. Flynn, No. 04-2491, 2005 U.S. App. Lexis 24555 (4th Cir.). [2006 LR Jan]
     Officers did not use excessive force in utilizing pepper spray against suspect, handcuffing him, using control holds against him, tripping and hitting him, and putting him in a prone position until medical personnel could arrive when he was hallucinating and "obviously deranged," had armed himself with two weapons, had previously stabbed his wife, and showed his intent to harm the officers by rushing at them with a screwdriver. No liability for injuries which allegedly resulted in suspect's death. Wheeler v. City of Philadelphia, No. Civ.A. 04-3792, 367 F. Supp. 2d 737 (E.D. Pa. 2005). [N/R]
     Officers' use of chemical spray against an arrestee and pushing of him was not excessive force when he was on top of a man on the floor with blood on the floor around them when they arrived at his apartment, and the arrestee was not cooperative with them. Officers had no obligation to believe arrestee's claim that he had acted in self-defense after the other man, his brother-in-law, had attacked him in an intoxicated condition. Lindsay v. Bogle, No. 02-6201, 92 Fed. Appx. 165 (6th Cir. 2004). [N/R]
     Federal appeals court upholds $900,000 jury award to family of adult non-verbal autistic man who died after officers seeking to restrain him allegedly continued to use pepper spray and to lay on top of his body after he was handcuffed, hobbled, and laying on his stomach on the ground, no longer resisting. Continued use of such force at that point, the court rules, violated clearly established law, and jury's award was not excessive. Champion v. Outlook Nashville, Inc., No. 03-5068, 380 F.3d 893 (6th Cir. 2004). [2004 LR Nov]
     Officer had probable cause to arrest a woman when he entered a bingo hall and observed her fighting with another woman in the middle of a crowd of people. The officer could only act on what he knew, and did not have any knowledge as to which woman had initiated the fight, or whether the arrestee was at fault. His use of pepper spray to stop the fight was not an excessive use of force under the circumstances. Esters v. Steberl, No. 03-506, 93 Fed. Appx. 711 (6th Cir. 2004). [N/R]
     Officers were entitled to qualified immunity for arresting a motorist for refusal to obey orders to exit his vehicle to sign a speeding citation and for arresting his brother, a passenger, for interference with the officers in repeatedly advising the driver not to obey them. Use of pepper spray was also justified when vehicle occupants, in response to officer reaching his hand inside the vehicle, began to roll the window up on his arm. Lawyer v. City of Council Bluffs, No. 03-1032, 361 F.3d 1099 (8th Cir. 2004). [2004 LR Aug]
     Officers did not use excessive force in first using pepper spray and then shooting a motorist who pulled a knife on them after initially refusing to submit to a stop on suspicion of intoxicated driving. Gaddis v. Redford Township, #02-1483, 364 F.3d 763 (6th Cir. 2004). [2004 LR Aug]
     Officers acted reasonably in using pepper spray in an attempt to subdue an emotionally disturbed suicidal man who was armed with an axe and had previously taken hostages, and in shooting and killing him when he responded to the pepper spray by lifting the axe and running towards them. Isom v. Town of Warren, No. 03-1765, 360 F.3d 7 (1st Cir. 2004). [2004 LR May]
     Family of mentally disturbed man who allegedly committed "suicide by cop" could not pursue California state law negligence lawsuit for wrongful death against city and officers following summary judgment for the defendants in their prior federal civil rights lawsuit. Appeals court also finds no violation of California state constitutional rights. City of Simi Valley v. Superior Court (Bayer), No. B166917, 4 Cal. Rptr. 3d 468 (Cal App. 2003). [2003 LR Dec]
     Officer was not required to give advance warning of his use of pepper spray in his attempt to subdue a man, armed with a walking stick, who was suspected of having already used it to inflict serious injury on a woman in a laundromat who was observed bleeding profusely from her head at the scene. Further, his use of deadly force was also justified when the suspect appeared ready to attack him and refused orders to drop the stick. McCormick v. City of Fort Lauderdale, No. 01-16567, 333 F.3d 1234 (11th Cir. 2003). [2003 LR Sep]
     Use of hog-tie restraint against arrestee who had a head wound and had been sprayed with pepper spray, and was also allegedly compliant at the time of the restraint, was an excessive use of force, and officers were not entitled to qualified immunity from possible liability for arrestee's subsequent death from positional asphyxia. There was also evidence to show that county officers widely used hog-tie restraints but that no training in the use of such restraints was provided. Garrett v. Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County, 246 F. Supp. 2d 1262 (M.D. Ga. 2003). [2003 LR Jul]
     There was a genuine issue of fact as to whether an officer's use of pepper spray was reasonably necessary to subdue a man being arrested for disorderly conduct, but the officer did not engage in deliberate indifference to the arrestee's serious medical needs by failing to immediately call an ambulance after the use of the spray, in the absence of any evidence that the delay caused any harm. The evidence further showed that the arrestee declined the officer's offer to give him a towel and water to flush out his eyes. Mantz v. Chain, 239 F. Supp. 2d 486 (D.N.J. 2002). [N/R]
     Estate of aspiring "rap" musician who died when officers' use of pepper spray against him allegedly triggered a fatal asthma attack reaches $2.7 million settlement with city in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit. Officers mistakenly believed that the decedent, seen riding in a taxi, was involved in the murder of a fellow officer and allegedly kicked and beat him in the course of the arrest, leaving his asthma inhaler at the scene of the arrest after using the pepper spray on him. Estate of Faison v. City of Orange, No. 00-1944 (KSH) U.S. District Court (D.N.J.), June 25, 2002, reported in The National Law Journal, p. B3 (Sept. 30, 2002).[N/R]
     After a four hour armed standoff and failed negotiations, it was reasonable for officers to fire tear gas into a mentally disturbed man's vehicle to extricate him after he had previously shot at police and refused to surrender. No liability for "excessive force" or subsequent confrontation that led to his death. Bayer v. City of Simi Valley, No. 01-55736, 43 Fed. Appx. 36 (9th Cir. 2002). [2002 LR Dec]
    Officer's use of pepper spray was not unreasonable when arrestee had been climbing stairs toward the officer, screaming threats to harm him and gesturing wildly with his arms, ignoring the officer's order to stay back. Jim v. County of Hawaii, #00-16979, 33 Fed. Appx. 857 (9th Cir. 2002). [N/R]    
     Officers acted objectively reasonably in forcing a diabetic motorist to a stop and forcibly removing him from his truck through the use of pepper spray, baton blows, and bites from a police dog when his erratic driving was serious enough that people might have been killed by it, and he refused to comply with lawful orders once he was stopped. Moore v. Winer, 190 F. Supp. 22d 804 (D. Maryland 2002). [2002 LR Jul]
     Use of O.C. (pepper spray) by officer attempting to handcuff "belligerent" person who ignored officers' requests and, at the least, passively resisted arrest was not an excessive use of force. Issues of fact existed, however, as to whether an officer held the arrestee around the neck and subjected him to an unreasonable risk of serious injury, causing a broken neck. Fultz v. Whittaker, 187 F. Supp. 2d 695 (W.D. Ky. 2001). [2002 LR Jun]
     Arrestee's standing conviction for obstructing an officer barred his excessive force claim against the arresting officer for using pepper spray against him, since an award in his favor would imply the invalidity of his conviction. California intermediate appeals court rules. Susag v. City of Lake Forest, No. D038608, 115 Cal. Rptr. 2d 269 (Cal. App. 2002). [2002 LR May]
     Officers used reasonable force in subduing woman with chemical spray and pushing her to the ground when an altercation broke out as she was attempting to "directly interfere" with officer's attempts to maintain order and resisted arrest for attempting to interfere with the arrest of her son. Jackson v. City of Bremerton, No. 99-36159, 268 F.3d 646 (9th Cir. 2001). [2002 LR Feb]
           347:163 U.S. Supreme Court orders further proceedings as to whether officers were entitled to qualified immunity in lawsuit brought by anti-logging protesters claiming that the use of pepper spray to compel their compliance with law enforcement orders was an excessive use of force. Humboldt County v. Headwaters Forest Defense, #00-1649, 2001 U.S. LEXIS 5482.
     345:133 Married couple who triggered alarm when they entered lit, apparently open convenience store were properly awarded damages for false arrest and assault based on deputies treatment of them after arriving on the scene and finding no evidence of crime; deputy used excessive force against wife by spraying her twice in the face with "OC" spray at close range; appeals court reduces damages awarded as excessive. Park v. Shiflett, No. 00-1809, 250 F.3d 843 (4th Cir. 2001).
     342:84 Officer who sprayed arrestee in the face with pepper spray a second time while she was sitting in the back seat of a police vehicle with her hands handcuffed behind her was liable for $1,000 in compensatory and $40,000 in punitive damages, as well as $12,877.97 in attorneys' fees and costs. Blackledge v. Carlone, 126 F. Supp. 2d 224 (D. Conn. 2001).
     339:35 UPDATE: Federal appeals court reinstates lawsuit over use of pepper spray to compel compliance by anti-logging protesters, disagrees with trial judge who ruled that no reasonable juror could view its use in these circumstances as excessive force. Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of Humboldt, #98-17250, 211 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2000).
     339:36 African-American arrestees stated claim for racial discrimination based on assertion of city practice or custom of using pepper spray and excessive force against them based on race; alleged breaking of arrestee's arm, use of pepper spray against him, and biting by police dog during "unnecessary" subduing was conduct which, if true, no reasonable officers could have believed was warranted. Wilkerson v. Thrift, 124 F. Supp. 2d 322 (W.D.N.C. 2000).
     325:9 Arrestee could not seek to impose liability on city for alleged policy of failure to supervise and discipline officers for misuse of pepper spray when the evidence showed that city trained officers in its use, required them to report its use in a form reviewed by supervisors, and plaintiff himself failed to file any complaint with the department about its use against him. Horrington v. City of Detroit, 49 F.Supp. 2d 1022 (E.D. Mich. 1999).
     323:163 Use of pepper spray was not excessive force when used to compel arrestee's compliance with handcuffing; arrestee was "agitated" and repeatedly refused to be handcuffed, instead swearing at officers. Passino v. St. of N.Y., 1999 N.Y. App. Div. Lexis 4219, 260 A.D.2d 915, 689 N.Y.S.2d 258.(A.D. 1999).
     "The deterrent effects of oleoresin capsicum on assaults against police," 1 (2) Police Quarterly 1-2 (1998). Summary: "OC had a statistically significant deterrent effect on violence against police, reducing assaults on officers an average of about 32 per month" in the Baltimore County, MD, Police Dept. Subscription info: PERF/ACJS (888) 202- 4563.
     320:115 Officers did not violate union demonstrators' First Amendment rights by using tear gas to disperse rally outside factory after picketers refused to disperse; blowing of tear gas into nearby homes did not violate clearly established privacy rights of homeowners; court rejects inadequate training claim in absence of specific evidence. Ellsworth v. City of Lansing, 34 F.Supp. 2d 571 (W.D. Mich. 1998).
     318:91 City was not liable for death of arrestee caused by cocaine poisoning after he swallowed drugs officers were attempting to get him to expel from his mouth; officers' use of Heimlich maneuver and pepper spray were not unreasonable under the circumstances; no deliberate indifference or inadequate training on the part of the city was shown. Singleton v. City of Newburgh, 1 F.Supp. 2d 306 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).
     314:20 Use of pepper spray to compel compliance by anti-logging protestors was a reasonable use of force; federal trial judge rules that no reasonable juror could view its use in these circumstances as excessive force. Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of Humboldt, 1998 U.S. Dist. Lexis 16953 (N.D.Cal.).
     306:84 Jury awards $45 million to surviving family of 25- year-old double amputee motorist who died following altercation with officer who pulled him over; pepper spray and neck hold used to restrain motorist. Mallet v. City of Phoenix, Phoenix Superior Court, Phoenix, Arizona, reported in the Chicago Tribune, p. 16 (March 13, 1998).
     305:70 Officer had probable cause to take depressed man into protective custody based on his consumption of alcohol, number of pills which appeared to be missing from his medication, and his phone call to psychologist; use of pepper spray to restrain man and take him to hospital was reasonable when officer had reason to believe man might be attempting suicide. Monday v. Oullette, 118 F.3d 1099 (6th Cir. 1997).
     299:166 Officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on use of pepper spray to attempt to disburse demonstrators outside factory involved in labor strike Lamb v. City of Decatur, 947 F.Supp. 1261 (CD Ill 1996).
     286:148 Use of pepper spray to force arrestee to disgorge crack cocaine from his mouth was a reasonable use of force and was not "outrageous" U.S. v. Holloway, 906 F.Supp. 1437 (D.Kan 1995).
     Arrestee who lost an eye receives $273,000 settlement in suit alleging unreasonable use of aerosol spray and inadequate medical care while in custody Goodman v. Montgomery County, U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ala., No CV-92-H-1170-N (May 29, 1993), reported in 37 ATLA L. Rep.56 (March 1994).
     City could be liable for officer's spraying mace into arrestee's face Griffith v. City of Monrovia, 184 Cal.Rptr. 709 (Super 1982).
     Court awards $400,000 against District of Columbia for officers' misuse of tear gas during grievance ride to capital District of Columbia v. Colston, 468 A.2d 954 (D.C App. 1983).
     Injunction against use of mace can not be granted in light of Lyon's, a Supreme Court case involving choke holds Curtis v. City of New Haven, 726 F.2d 65, (2nd Cir. 1984).
     Use of mace not excessive when intoxicated arrestee tried to kick officer; no indifference to medical needs shown when medical attention not requested Dayton v. Sapp, 668 F.Supp. 385 (D. Del. 1987).
     " See also: Defenses: Statute of Limitations,  Defenses: Notice of Claim