John Phillip Wright Dukeman, II v. Dylon Wyatt

Summary

The Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity to Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Dylon Wyatt in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 excessive-force action involving the deployment of a police canine. The court held that the complaint did not sufficiently allege Wyatt’s personal involvement, opportunity, or means to prevent the canine’s use of force, nor establish a clearly established duty for him to issue a warning or intervene on behalf of another law enforcement agency’s canine. The case was remanded with instructions to dismiss the claims against Wyatt.

Holdings

1. A § 1983 plaintiff must establish each individual defendant's personal involvement, and allegations describing collective conduct by multiple officers are insufficient without factual allegations connecting the particular defendant to the alleged constitutional violation.
2. Wyatt was entitled to qualified immunity because Dukeman did not identify clearly established law requiring an officer from a different law-enforcement agency, who was not the canine handler and had no police canine at the scene, to issue a canine warning on behalf of the handler.
3. Wyatt was entitled to qualified immunity on the failure-to-intervene claim because Dukeman did not allege facts showing that Wyatt had both the opportunity and the means to prevent Ares from harming him, or that Wyatt's duty to intervene in this specific context was clearly established.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Wyatt was entitled to qualified immunity on Dukeman's claim that Wyatt violated a clearly established right by failing to issue a canine warning before the county deputy deployed Ares.
2. Whether Wyatt was entitled to qualified immunity on Dukeman's failure-to-intervene claim based on Wyatt's alleged failure to command, intercept, or remove a police canine belonging to another law-enforcement agency.
3. Whether Dukeman's collective allegations against the officers sufficiently pleaded Wyatt's personal involvement in the alleged constitutional violations.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded