This is another 42 USC 1983 civil suit for excessive use of force. In this case, the 8th Circuit denied Qualified Immunity to a tall and physically fit LEO who body-slammed a short and fat drunk woman while arresting her for non-violent misdemeanors stemming from a complaint made by the person with whom she lived. The court noted the officer did not give the plaintiff time to put out her cigarette and comply with the arrest before grabbing her arm and slamming her on the floor. The court specifically held that: A jury thus could find that a reasonable officer in Storz’s position would not have perceived Karels’s actions as resistance. Accordingly, the court denied qualified immunity and has left it to the jury to make this determination of fact.
