Lane & Waterman attorney Jason O’Rourke successfully represented five Davenport police officers in a lawsuit filed by a Plaintiff following his arrest.  The Plaintiff was a suspect in a violent assault who led officers on a high speed chase, crashed his car and fled.  Thereafter he refused lawful demands to surrender, and officers were required to use force to arrest him.  In the course of his arrest, Plaintiff’s ankle was broken.  He subsequently filed a lawsuit against the five officers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa alleging they used excessive force during his arrest.  The District Court held four of the officers were entitled to qualified immunity and entered judgment in their favor, but denied qualified immunity for the fifth officer.  The fifth officer appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which reversed the District Court’s decision, held the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and ordered that judgment be entered in his favor.  Click here to read the Eighth Circuit’s opinion.