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Zachery Pittman v. Herman Harris

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 17-7308 · judgment June 18, 2019

Certiorari denied · March 9, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Fourth Circuit decision below.

Questions presented

  1. Whether in Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007) this Court announced an “exception” to the summary judgment standard in cases commenced under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and if not, whether the Fourth Circuit erred when it deviated from other circuit holdings and announced that Scott directs the lower courts to examine whether a self-serving narrative is contradicted by individual pieces of the record, as opposed to the entire record, to discern if a genuine dispute of material fact exists.

  2. Whether Respondent “clearly established” his right to be free from excess force when Respondent assaulted Petitioner in a wooded area, attempted to murder Petitioner with his service weapon, and presented a lethal threat until Petitioner fired in rapid succession.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Donald Brandon Christian
NCLEAG, PLLC

For respondent
Kevin Franz King
Covington & Burling LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Mar 09 2020
    Petition DENIED. Justice Alito would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari.
  2. Mar 02 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/6/2020.
  3. Feb 12 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2020.
  4. Feb 07 2020
    Reply of petitioner Zachery Pittman filed.
  5. Feb 03 2020
    Brief of respondent Herman Harris in opposition filed.
  6. Dec 09 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 3, 2020.
  7. Dec 06 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 2, 2020 to February 3, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Dec 03 2019
    Response Requested. (Due January 2, 2020)
  9. Nov 20 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/6/2019.
  10. Nov 08 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent Herman Harris to respond filed.
  11. Oct 07 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 8, 2019)