Court Erred in Not Giving Requested Instruction in Civil Rights Case

Arnold v. Curtis, 2009 WL 5159766 (12/31/09) (unpub'd) - The plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to warrant an instruction that the officer seized her in violation of the 4th Amendment if he intentionally grabbed her, and threw her down the stairs in a movie theater. The error in failing to give that instruction was not harmless because, although the jury found the officer did not violate the plaintiff's substantive due process rights, the test for an excessive force 4th Amendment violation is significantly easier to meet than the due-process, shock-the-conscience test.