Clifford George v. Thomas Edholm

Clifford George appeals a grant of summary judgment to Pomona Police Officers Greg Freeman and Daryll Johnson. Acting pro se, George sued Freeman, Johnson, and a medical doctor and two nurses under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , alleging that they violated his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments when the doctor, forcibly and without consent, removed a plastic baggie containing cocaine base from George’s rectum. We reverse in part, affirm in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I. Background

A. Factual Summary

According to a police report written by Officer Freeman, on March 13, 2004, George and another man were standing in the front courtyard of an apartment complex in Pomona, California. Freeman and his partner were patrolling the area, which they knew to be a hangout for gang members and drug dealers. They spotted the two men, got out of their police cruiser, and approached them. George started to run “towards the front gate, as if he was going to flee.” Freeman ordered George to stop, and George complied. George told Freeman he was on parole for an armed robbery conviction.

Officer Freeman and two other officers conducted a parole search of George’s…