According to Monell V. Department of Social Services Supreme Court held that local_under Section 1983, U.S.C when a_of the entity causes_ . Cain examined Plakas's head and found nothing that required medical treatment. Cain examined Plakas's head and found nothing that required medical treatment. at 1332. The clearing was small, but Plakas and the officers were ten feet apart. Finally, there is the argument most strongly urged by Plakas. Plakas V. Drinski. Perras said that he did not use the CS repellant because he was too far from Plakas and because it might have landed on his fellow officers. But it is trouble which the police officer is sworn to cause, which society pays him to cause and which, if kept within constitutional limits, society praises the officer for causing. Plakas was calm until he saw Cain and Koby. As he did so, Plakas slowly backed down a hill in the yard. This guiding principle does not fit well here. 1985) (en banc). The police could have tried to put barriers between themselves and Plakas and maintain distance from him. He can claim self-defense to shooting Plakas. At one point Plakas pointed the poker at Drinski and said, "Either you're going to die here or I'm going to die here." Joyce Ailes heard Dino banging against the house; she saw him and opened the door. 1994) case opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 6. The only test is whether what the police officers actually did was reasonable. Graham, 490 U.S. at 396-97, 109 S. Ct. at 1872; see also Sherrod v. Berry, 856 F.2d 802, 806-07 (7th Cir. First, according to Drinski, Plakas charged away from the brush at Drinski, yet one paramedic who was summoned to the clearing to administer to Plakas observed that Plakas's feet were about a foot from the brush. Voida was justified in concluding that Tom could not have been subdued except through gunfire. Plakas backed into a corner and neared a set of fireplace tools. Deputy Drinski passed by the injured Koby and asked him with what he was hit; Koby told him that Plakas had a poker. 1988) (en banc), police officers shot and wounded a masked bank robber fleeing from the scene of his crime. Subscribe Now Justia Legal Resources. Likewise, we decline to impose a constitutional requirement to train the police to use all available equipment beyond the acceptable training program already mandated. Even if Plakas attacked Drinski and Drinski acted in self-defense, Plakas was still wronged because Drinski had a duty to use alternative methods short of deadly force to resolve the situation before him. There they noticed Plakas was intoxicated. When paramedic Whitt arrived at the clearing, he found Plakas laying about a foot from the brush at one corner of the clearing. They noticed that his clothes were wet. The only argument in this case is that Plakas did not charge at all. We do not return to the prior segments of the event and, in light of hindsight, reconsider whether the prior police decisions were correct. This appeal followed. Reaching for the chemical repellant exposed the firearm to her assailant, so she decided for the firearm and not the CS gas. Cain told Corporal Koby to check Plakas for intoxication and he told Koby why. Roy Ailes spoke to Plakas, smelled alcohol on his breath, and found him to be upset and insistent that he did nothing wrong. ", (bike or scooter) w/3 (injury or Plakas turned and faced them. We do not believe the Fourth Amendment requires the use of the least or even a less deadly alternative so long as the use of deadly force is reasonable under Garner v. Tennessee and Graham v. Connor, supra. This is not the kind of weighing of least deadly alternatives that Plakas would have us require of Drinski. Plakas died sometime after he arrived at the hospital. Seventh Circuit. The police gave chase, shouting, "Stop, Police." 2d 772 (1996). In this sense, the police officer always causes the trouble. Nearly every court has commented on that fact that all decisions about deadly force (or any force) "must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split second judgments--in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving." The district judge disagreed and granted summary judgment, 811 F. Supp. plakas v. drinski, 19 f.3d 1143 (7th cir. Cited 77 times, 980 F.2d 299 (1992) | This is not a case where an officer claims to have used deadly force to prevent an escape. Cain knew there was an ambulance at that site and that Plakas could be examined more carefully there. A volunteer fireman found him walking . We adopt the version most favorable to plaintiff. . Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 3, 85 L. Ed. 5. These cases make it clear that liability cannot be founded on the failure of Drinski to keep some sort of distance or natural barrier between himself and Plakas. He swore Koby would not touch him. App. At times Plakas moved the poker about; at times it rested against the ground. At one point, Plakas lowered the poker but did not lay it down. In Plakas v. Drinski, 19 F.3d 1143 (7th Cir.1994), Plakas's administrator argued that the defendant officer, instead of shooting Plakas, should have used a non-lethal cannister of CS Gas he carried on his belt, or used a canine unit on the scene to take Plakas down, or tried to isolate him while keeping a safe distance. Roy stayed outside to direct other police to his house. Voida was justified in concluding that Tom could not have been subdued except through gunfire. An alternative plan could have reduced or eliminated the possibility of the arrestee's use of a gun. Here we agree that the undisputed facts can lead to but one conclusion, that Drinski's use of deadly force was reasonable given Plakas's act of aggression and Drinski's knowledge of what had gone on before. Cain thought Plakas was out to kill him, Perras said that he did not use the CS repellant because he was too far from Plakas and because it might have landed on his fellow officers. The Honorable James B. Zagel, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, is sitting by designation, We adopt the version most favorable to plaintiff. Cited 96 times, 973 F.2d 1328 (1992) | Northern District. He tried to avoid violence. Id. During the entire time in the clearing, Perras had a canister of CS repellant on his belt.2 It could have been used to disable Plakas. Cain thought Plakas was out to kill him.&gENDFN>. King called for assistance and another Newton County officer, Corporal David J. Koby, and two paramedics, Glen Cain and Steven Whitt, responded. at 1276, n.8. Joyce and Rachel helped him. 1985) (en banc) . Actually, the photograph is not included in the record here. His theme was that there were people, including his girlfriend at the house, who cared about Plakas and that nobody needs to get hurt. Roy Ailes, who had just returned to his house, saw the officers with guns drawn and ran forward saying, "Don't shoot, I'll talk to him." He picked one of them up, a 2-3 foot poker with a hook on its end. Drinski's retreat was involuntarily stopped, either by his backing into a tree or by a near stumble of some sort. What Drinski did here is no different than what Voida did. Konstantino Plakas was shot once and killed by Jeffrey Drinski, a deputy sheriff. We do not think it is wise policy to permit every jury in these cases to hear expert testimony that an arrestee would have been uninjured if only the police had been able to use disabling gas or a capture net or a taser (or even a larger number of police officers) and then decide that a municipality is liable because it failed to buy this equipment (or increase its police force). His car had run off the road and wound up in a deep water-filled ditch. He moved toward her. Plakas, however, merely mentions this testimony to show that Drinski was badly trained. Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 310 (5th Cir. The answer is no. Plakas was calm until he saw Cain and Koby. 1992). Sergeant Buddy R. King, of the Newton County Sheriff's Department thought the car had rolled over on its top and slid for 150 to 200 feet before rolling upright, striking a tree and coming to rest in the ditch. 1994), in which he states: . The moon was bright, light was reflecting off the snow and it was easy to track Plakas who slowed as he entered a row of thick brush hedges. Since medical assistance previously had been requested for Koby, it was not long in coming. armed robbery w/5 gun, "gun" occurs to You're all set! Koby reported the escape and called for help. Inside the house, Plakas took the poker, slammed it into the wall1 and then beat his head against the wall. See Perfetti v. First Nat'l Bank of Chicago, 950 F.2d 449, 456 (7th Cir. In Carter, such an alternative was not merely speculative; the arrestee was employed inside a prison where he would not have had a gun on his person. Drinski blocked the opening in the brush where all had entered the clearing. He tried for quite a while to get Plakas to lay down the poker and surrender and even attempted to retreat as Plakas charged him. Voida fired one shot at Tom which did not hit him, but he insisted on lunging at her again. All of the witnesses testified to an act of self-defense; that Plakas was moving toward Drinski and menacing him with a fireplace poker and that, moments before, Plakas had said . 1977). As he did so, Plakas slowly backed down a hill in the yard. Joyce Ailes heard Dino banging against the house; she saw him and opened the door. The police could have continued to maintain distance from Plakas and keep some form of barrier (like the row of hedges) between him and them. They followed him out, now with guns drawn. Oklahoma County Board, 151 F.3d 1313, 1320 (10th Cir. Plakas agreed that Roy should talk to the police. Warren v. Chicago Police Dept. 1988) (en banc), police officers shot and wounded a masked bank robber fleeing from the scene of his crime. Heres how to get more nuanced and relevant 93-1431. Perhaps we ought not to consider this theory since it was not pled, but it is of no use to Plakas in any event. right or left of "armed robbery. Koby spoke to Plakas who had some difficulty communicating the fact that he did not have his driver's license (which he had surrendered as bond for a traffic ticket he received in Illinois). He appeared to be blacking out. Plakas argues there is enough evidence to cast doubt on the defendants' self-defense claim, given the low threshold that courts have set for refuting self-defense in deadly force cases both civil and criminal. He swore Koby would not touch him. Cain and some officers went to the house. As Plakas moved toward Drinski, was he supposed to think of an attack dog, of Perras's CS gas, of how fast he could run backwards? See Gilmere v. City of Atlanta, 774 F.2d 1495, 1501 (11th Cir. Shooting a man who has told you, in effect, that he is going to use deadly force against you and then moves toward you as if to do so is unquestionably an act of selfdefense even if, as Plakas's expert maintains, the man is attempting "suicide by police.". Plakas was turned on his back. Again, he struck her. It became clear she could not physically subdue him. In this record, there is expert opinion that Drinski might have been better trained to negotiate with Plakas and that he may have said one thing to Plakas that he ought not to have said, i.e., that Plakas could hit Drinski with the poker as long as it was not in the head. Here we agree that the undisputed facts can lead to but one Conclusion, that Drinski's use of deadly force was reasonable given Plakas's act of aggression and Drinski's knowledge of what had gone on before. 2d 65, 103 S. Ct. 2605 (1983); United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 556-57 n.12, 49 L. Ed. Justia. He moaned and said, "I'm dying." Perhaps we ought not to consider this theory since it was not pled, but it is of no use to Plakas in any event. She fired and missed. This guiding principle does not fit well here. United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. For the next quarter-hour or half-hour, Drinski and Perras tried to talk Plakas into surrendering. He stopped, then lunged again; she fired into his chest. Drinski blocked the opening in the brush where all had entered the clearing. Koby moved away and tried to come in the room from another door, but Plakas chased him away, swinging the poker. He appeared to be blacking out. Taken literally the argument fails because Drinski did use alternative methods. Id. The district court's grant of summary judgment is AFFIRMED. letters, 963 F.2d 952 (1992) | 2014) (deadly force case in which police officer fatally shot suspect: court said that fact defendant . Cain knew there was an ambulance at that site and that Plakas could be examined more carefully there. In Ford v. Childers, 855 F.2d 1271 (7th Cir. See Reed v. Hoy, 909 F.2d 324, 330-31 (9th Cir. The tree-sapling discrepancy is of the sort on which popular conspiracy theories are built, but it is not enough to allow a rational trier of fact to decide against Drinski. Anderson v. Creighton In Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U .S. He tried for quite a while to get Plakas to lay down the poker and surrender and even attempted to retreat as Plakas charged him. Plakas told them that he had wrecked his car and that his head hurt. Konstantino Plakas was shot once and killed by Jeffrey Drinski, a deputy sheriff. Joyce saw no blood, but saw bumps on his head and bruises. King, listening from outside the clearing, thought Drinski might persuade Plakas to drop the weapon, but he did not. This is what we mean when we say we refuse to second-guess the officer. Not the kind of weighing of least deadly alternatives that Plakas could be examined more carefully there the wall coming! 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