Alexander

This appeal presents two basic issues: (1) whether the district court erred in denying qualified immunity to Los Angeles police officers involved in the detention and alleged arrest of the plaintiffs, Jerry Alexander and Tyrone Brown; and (2) whether the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the officers on Alexander’s claim that the officers used excessive force. FACTS

On August 17, 1992, a robbery took place in the Security Pacific Bank parking lot at 1633 North Hacienda Boulevard, La Puente, California. The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department received a call that shots had been fired. When Deputy David Smiley arrived at the scene, a witness described the robbery suspect as a Black male, five feet and eleven inches tall, 190 pounds, twenty-five to thirty years old, with short hair, a moustache, and a receding hairline. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and black pants and had a gold tooth. The witness reported the robbery suspect left the scene with another Black male in a newer model, green, two-door Chevy Baretta, with partial license plate number ZBSD7. The suspects had fired shots at a witness as they were leaving the area. Deputy Smiley put…