Frank Borquez v. City of Tucson

MEMORANDUM

Frank U. Borquez appeals the district court’s order granting judgment as a matter of law as to his claim of excessive force brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, see Saman v. Robbins, 173 F.3d 1150, 1155 (9th Cir.1999), and we affirm.

I.

The district court properly granted judgment as a matter of law on the excessive force claim, because Sergeant Fabian Pacheco was entitled to qualified immunity-

As reflected by the special verdict form, the jury found that Borquez “grabbed the arm of Defendant Fabian Pacheco as they encountered each other near the front door” of the residence. At the time his arm was grabbed, Pacheco was escorting an arrestee (Borquez’s adult son) to a police vehicle. Pacheco shoved Borquez, and Borquez stumbled, hitting his head against a wall and injuring his knee as he fell to the ground.

Given the jury’s finding that Bor-quez grabbed Pacheco’s arm, we conclude that it would not have been sufficiently clear to every reasonable officer whether Pacheco’s shove was unlawful under these conditions. See Mattos v. Agarano, 661 F.3d 433, 452 (9th Cir.2011) (en banc); see also Blankenhom v.…