Cunningham

This consolidated appeal requires us to * decide whether certain Los Angeles city officials are entitled to qualified immunity from suits initiated by several alleged victims of excessive force by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). In three separate lawsuits, Robert Cunningham, Grover Smith, and the parents of Daniel Soly, 2 sued the city of Los Angeles (City) and numerous City officials, alleging the defendants either used excessive force, acquiesced in the use of excessive force, or engaged in an unconstitutional policy of indemnifying LAPD officers against punitive damage awards in excessive force *1278 cases. 3 Defendants in the Cunningham and Soly actions moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity from suit and Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 , 114 S.Ct. 2364 , 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). 4 The district court 5 granted summary judgment to the City’s mayor, Richard Rior-dan, but otherwise denied all motions for summary judgment. 6 See Cunningham v. Gates, 989 F.Supp. 1256 (C.D.Cal.1997); Cunningham v. Gates, 989 F.Supp. 1262 (C.D.Cal.1997). Defendants in the Smith action also moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. In denying the Smith defendants’…