Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

City of Fort Worth, Texas, et al. v. Eric C. Darden

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 16-11244 · judgment January 24, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 1, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a state or local-government petitioner, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.

Questions presented

Police served a felony narcotics warrant. Officer W.F. Snow encountered the primary suspect, Jermaine Darden, a 340-pound man, apparently robust, but suffering from extraordinary latent health infirmities, who had ingested a toxic synthetic cannabinoid. As seen on video, Darden struggled against efforts to secure him. Officer J. Romero eventually helped. Darden then suffered a fatal heart attack (a death the medical examiner ruled to have been from natural causes).

  1. Did the Fifth Circuit err in reversing the district court’s grant of qualified immunity to the officers by basing its analysis only on Darden’s subjective reasons for resisting?

  2. Did the Fifth Circuit err by failing to identify any appropriate clearly established law, given it effectively declared a fact issue to exist only as to why (not if) Darden struggled against the officers, and then defined clearly established law only by the high-level and inapplicable proposition that officers cannot use force against a non-resisting suspect?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Kenneth E. East
The Law Office of Kenneth E. East

For respondent
Matthew Joseph Kita

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Oct 01 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 01 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
  3. Jul 30 2018
    Reply of petitioners City of Fort Worth, Texas, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jul 13 2018
    Brief of respondent Eric C. Darden in opposition filed.
  5. Jun 19 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 13, 2018.
  6. Jun 12 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 13, 2018 to July 13, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. May 14 2018
    Response Requested. (Due June 13, 2018)
  8. May 08 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/24/2018.
  9. Apr 30 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Eric C. Darden to respond filed.
  10. Apr 23 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 29, 2018)