A. D. v. State of Calif. Highway Patrol

A police officer, who violates another’s constitutional right, will receive qualified immunity from suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if the right the officer violated was not protected by clearly established law at the time he acted. See Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 232, 129 S.Ct. 808 , 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). Since 1998, clear precedent has established that a police officer violates the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause if he kills a suspect when acting with the purpose to harm, unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement objective. Therefore, once a jury has found (with reasonable support in the evidence) such a due process violation on the part of the officer, he may not successfully assert qualified immunity in a post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law.

District courts have broad discretion when awarding attorneys’ fees. However, due to an intervening change in our case law, the district court’s conclusion that it could not consider amounts discussed in settlement negotiations in determining the amount of a reasonable fee award is no longer in line with Ninth Circuit cases.

We therefore affirm the district court in part, and we must reverse and…