Jason O’Rourke and Alex Barnett defended the City of Davenport and one of its police officers after the officer was required to use deadly force on an armed individual who was evading arrest in a residential neighborhood.  The suspect was shot without verbal warning deadly force might be used against him. The deceased’s spouse and mother sued, alleging the officer and City violated Klum’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure.  The District Court held that the officer acted reasonably, was entitled to qualified immunity and, therefore, was entitled to summary judgment.  The District Court also held the City was entitled to summary judgment.  The plaintiffs appealed that decision.  After closely analyzing the factual record, the United States Court of Appels for the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the District Court’s decision and entering judgment in favor of the officer and the City. The Eighth Circuit agreed a verbal warning was unnecessary and the use of lethal force was reasonable under the circumstances because of the suspect’s escalating behavior and the presence of innocent bystanders.   A copy of the opinion can be found here. 

Jason J. O’Rourke joined the firm in 1998. His practice is almost entirely devoted to litigation and appeals. Jason has litigated complex construction cases through jury trials and arbitrations. He has also litigated a number of cases involving noncompetition agreements and post-employment restrictions. Finally, he has handled a variety of commercial and personal injury cases such as breach of contract, wrongful death and premises liability claims.

Alexander C. Barnett joined Lane & Waterman in July 2017 and practices primarily in the area of litigation with focus areas of commercial litigation, construction law, worker’s compensation, and product liability and mass torts.