Robert Nunn v. Felicia Delligatti

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania considers Defendant Felicia Delligatti’s motion for summary judgment in Robert Nunn’s action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Pennsylvania tort law. The claims arise from alleged excessive force used while Nunn was handcuffed and being escorted into a police station. The court concludes that disputed evidence concerning whether Delligatti shoved Nunn to the ground precludes summary judgment on the Fourth Amendment and assault and battery claims.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was inappropriate because the evidence, viewed in Nunn's favor, would permit a reasonable jury to find that Delligatti shoved him to the ground rather than merely guiding him with a soft-hand technique.
2. If the jury credited Nunn's account that Delligatti shoved him to the ground while he was handcuffed and secured, the force could constitute more than de minimis and objectively unreasonable force under the Fourth Amendment.
3. The court could not determine qualified immunity on summary judgment because the disputed nature of the force—soft-hand guidance versus a shove to the ground—materially affected both the constitutional-violation and clearly-established-right inquiries.
4. Summary judgment was inappropriate on the Pennsylvania battery claim because the disputed reasonableness of Delligatti's force also determined whether the force was unnecessary or excessive under Pennsylvania law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence created a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Delligatti used more than de minimis force against Nunn.
2. Whether Delligatti's alleged shove of a handcuffed arrestee to the ground was objectively unreasonable under the totality of the circumstances and the Graham factors.
3. Whether Delligatti was entitled to qualified immunity at the summary-judgment stage despite the factual dispute concerning the nature of the force used.
4. Whether the factual dispute also precluded summary judgment on Nunn's Pennsylvania battery claim.

Disposition

other