plakas v drinski justia

1994)). Plakas means to argue that Drinski should have used all available alternatives before deadly force was exercised and that Newton County, Drinski's employer, is liable because it failed to equip and train Drinski to use such methods. He turned back to Drinski who was 12 to 15 feet away and, with the poker raised, charged at Drinski who backed away. Dockets & Filings. He moaned and said, "I'm dying." It is significant he never yelled about a beating. This is what we mean when we say we refuse to second-guess the officer. Tom v. Voida did not, and did not mean to, announce a new doctrine. 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? Deputy Drinski passed by the injured Koby and asked him with what he was hit; Koby told him that Plakas had a poker. 1991); Tom v. Voida, 963 F.2d 952, 961 (7th Cir. The clearing was small, but Plakas and the officers were ten feet apart. Northern District. Our answer is, and has been, no because there is too little time for the officer to do so and too much opportunity to second-guess that officer. Konstantino Plakas was shot once and killed by Jeffrey Drinski, a deputy sheriff. The only test is whether what the police . Opinion for Pena, Marilyn v. Leombruni, Greg Brought to you by Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information. After a brief interval, Koby got in the car and drove away. What Drinski did here is no different than what Voida did. Through an opening in the brush was a clearing. Cain saw Plakas push his legs through the circle of his arms, bringing his cuffed hands to the front of his body. There is no showing that any footprints could be clearly discerned in the photograph. It is unusual to hear a lawyer argue that the police ought to have caused a dog to attack his client, but he is right that such an attack might have led to a better result for his client (and would, in our view, have led to a different sort of lawsuit). Here it is beyond dispute that, under the Constitution, the police could reasonably (1) arrest Plakas for drunk driving after he exhibited familiar signs of intoxication; (2) track down an escaping arrestee; (3) draw and point weapons after Plakas armed himself and attacked an officer; (4) pursue Plakas into the clearing after he committed a violent offense and was a danger to himself; and (5) try to talk Plakas into disarming himself and surrendering. From a house Plakas grabbed a fire poker and threaten the . Voida was justified in concluding that Tom could not have been subdued except through gunfire. The time-frame is a crucial aspect of excessive force cases. Plakas, however, merely mentions this testimony to show that Drinski was badly trained. Drinski blocked the opening in the brush where all had entered the clearing. Since Drinski did not violate Plakas's rights, there usually is no basis for holding his employer, Newton County, liable. As he drove he heard a noise that suggested the rear door was opened. No. 1994); Martinez v. County of Los Angeles, 47 Cal. 251, 403 N.E.2d 821, 823, 825 (1980); Montague v. State, 266 Ind. Plakas accused Koby of hurting him, and yelled about the handcuffing behind his back and about his scar tissue. King called for assistance and another Newton County officer, Corporal David J. Koby, and two paramedics, Glen Cain and Steven Whitt, responded. Plakas agreed that Roy should talk to the police. In Koby's car, the rear door handles are not removed. Drinski did most of the talking. 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. She did not have her night stick. Perras only saw that Drinski stumbled in his retreat either because he backed into something or simply tripped. Plakas accused Koby of hurting him, and yelled about the handcuffing behind his back and about his scar tissue. Rptr. And there is no reason to discount the testimony of Trooper Perras; he is neither a defendant himself nor employed by the defendant Newton County. Cain said that Plakas was not slamming the poker into the wall, rather, he was starting toward Cain and perhaps swinging it at Cain and missing. Roy stayed outside to direct other police to his house. Plakas backed into a corner and neared a set of fireplace tools. 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. 1992), it was claimed that the police had so poorly planned an arrest that the chance of a deadly gunfight was increased rather than minimized. 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? King, listening from outside the clearing, thought Drinski might persuade Plakas to drop the weapon, but he did not. Finally he rushed at Koby and swung quite hard at Koby, striking Koby's wrist with the poker. Drinski believed he couldn't retreat because there was something behind him. Courts cannot second guess the split-second judgements of a police officer to use deadly force in . King, Koby, Cain and Trooper Lucien Mark Perras of the Indiana State Police responded, as did Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Drinski. Pratt, 999 F.2d 774 (4th Cir. There is no showing that any footprints could be clearly discerned in the photograph. All of this means Drinski was properly standing in the clearing, gun in hand, several feet away from Plakas, who charged him with the poker raised. Cited 77 times, 980 F.2d 299 (1992) | 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). 635 (1987) , the Supreme Court held that when an officer of the la w (in this case, an FBI officer) conducts a search which violates the Fourth Amendment , that officer is entitled to qualified immunit y if the officer proves that a reasonable officer could ha ve believed that the search ", (bike or scooter) w/3 (injury or Roy went out and found Cain, whom he knew, and reported that Plakas was at the Ailes home and willing to come out. at 1332. Moreover, about ten minutes before the shooting, the services of a canine unit (from Lake County) were offered. There is a witness who corroborates the defendant officer's version. While Cain and the others tried to explain that Cain was from the fire department and wanted only to give medical aid, Plakas was loud and combative; (Joyce Ailes said he was "hysterical"). Civ. 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. Bankruptcy Lawyers; Business Lawyers . Plakas V Drinski. 2d 443, 109 S. Ct. 1865 (1989). ", Bidirectional search: in armed robbery If Winnebago County had seen a rash of police killings of crazy people and it was well understood that these killings could have been avoided by the . 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.". Paul F. Michel (argued), Thomas McClure, Rosa A. Eliades, Elliott & McClure, Bourbonnais, IL, for Jo Ann PLAKAS. He fled but she caught him. He tried to avoid violence. Actually, the photograph is not included in the record here. Drinski was in fear of his life, and Plakas's action was sudden and unexpected. Id. Plumhoff v. Rickard (2014) -Similar decision to Scott v. Harris - firing 15 shots into a vehicle/the presence of a passenger did not amount to excessive force. See Gilmere, 774 F.2d at 1501 ("any fear on the officer's part was the fear of retaliation against his own unjustified physical abuse").4 Drinski did not cause Plakas to attack him. Inside the house, Plakas took the poker, slammed it into the wall1 and then beat his head against the wall. Plakas implicitly argues that although Drinski's choice among available alternatives was reasonable, he should have had more choices, i.e., a trained canine, a canister of gas.6 Plakas implicitly seeks to hold Newton County liable for not providing those choices. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 310 (5th Cir. 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. In this sense, the police officer always causes the trouble. Twice the police called out, "Halt, police," but the plaintiff may not have heard. at 1332. Plakas v. Drinski, 19 F.3d 1143 (7th Cir. From this, Plakas argues a jury could infer that Officer Koby had beaten Plakas. 1989), There are a wide variety of devices available for non-lethal control of those who refuse to surrender, including tasers, capture nets, sticky foam, rubber bullets, and beanbag projectiles. His theme was that there were people, including his girlfriend at the house, who cared about Plakas and that nobody needs to get hurt. Subscribe Now Justia Legal Resources. george v. morris, in which a ninth circuit panel concluded a police officer violated a clearly estab-lished constitutional right 17 7. a 13-year-old child is not an adult and the child's age is relevant to . There is no precedent in this Circuit (or any other) which says that the Constitution requires law enforcement officers to use all feasible alternatives to avoid a situation where deadly force can justifiably be used.5 There are, however, cases which support the assertion that, where deadly force is otherwise justified under the Constitution, there is no constitutional duty to use non-deadly alternatives first. He picked one of them up, a 2-3 foot poker with a hook on its end. * The Honorable James B. Zagel, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, is sitting by designation. Plakas was turned on his back. See Martin L. Fackler, M.D., Police Handgun Ammunition Selection, WOUND BALLISTICS REVIEW, Fall 1992, at 32-37 (suggesting little effect beyond stopping movement). Roy went out and found Cain, whom he knew, and reported that Plakas was at the Ailes home and willing to come out. When the police first saw Plakas, at about 9:30 p.m. on February 2, 1991, he was walking along State Road 10 in Newton County, Indiana, not far from the Illinois state line. 1993 . Then gripping it with both hands, he continued screaming, louder and louder at Cain and Koby. For the next quarter-hour or half-hour, Drinski and Perras tried to talk Plakas into surrendering. The only argument in this case is that Plakas did not charge at all. See Perfetti v. First Nat'l Bank of Chicago, 950 F.2d 449, 456 (7th Cir. Tom v. Voida did not, and did not mean to, announce a new doctrine. 1994) - ". 1988) (en banc), police officers shot and wounded a masked bank robber fleeing from the scene of his crime. The shot hit Plakas in the chest inflicting a mortal wound. 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." Dickerson, 101 F.3d at 1161 (quoting Plakas v. Drinski, 19 F.3d 1143, 1150 (7th Cir.1994)). This theory is founded on the fact that Plakas told Koby, "You hurt me," and on Joyce Ailes's observation that Plakas had facial injuries. Perras and Drinski entered the clearing. In affirming summary judgment for the officer, we said. Also, in Carter v. Buscher, 973 F.2d 1328 (7th Cir. Perras and Drinski entered the clearing. He saw Plakas cock the poker over his head for a swing and, when Plakas was two arms lengths away, he fired once at Plakas' chest. After the weapon was out, she told him three times, "Please don't make me shoot you." 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. And, in fact, the Fifth Circuit has held that the Constitution "does not mandate that law enforcement agencies maintain equipment useful in all foreseeable situations." Moreover, when Plakas did say anything at all about Koby, it was a complaint about cuffing him behind his back, which he said (without medical corroboration even now) caused pain because of his scar tissue. The time-frame is a crucial aspect of excessive force cases. He picked one of them up, a 2-3 foot poker with a hook on its end. Get free summaries of new Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals opinions delivered to your inbox! Plakas often repeated these thoughts. Also, in Carter v. Buscher, 973 F.2d 1328 (7th Cir. If the officer had decided to do nothing, then no force would have been used. You're all set! We know the caliber of the bullet, but not its type or weight or the power of the charge in the cartridge, nor do we know where it struck Plakas and what effect it might have on the position of the body. 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