9th Circuit rules that officers may be held liable for use of pepper balls to disperse a crowd.
The outcome was not what most sports betting sites were predicting, but former UC Davis linebacker Timothy Nelson won a decisive victory in the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Earlier this week, the court ruled that Nelson can sue the university for injuries sustained by UC Davis police who claimed legal immunity.
Back in April 2004, Timothy Nelson was shot in the eye by a pepper ball projectile fired by campus police who were trying to break-up a party. The impact temporarily blinded Nelson and caused him to suffer permanent eye damage. As a result, Nelson lost his athletic scholarship, suffered permanent disfigurement, underwent a number of corrective surgeries, and had to drop out of school.
On the night of the incident, police arrived at the scene after multiple calls were coming in reporting of over 1,000 partygoers congregating outside an apartment complex for the university’s annual Picnic Day. Outside of broken bottles and rowdy students, police, dressed in full riot gear, were trying to break-up the party. Nelson, who was in attendance with his friends, was asked to leave by the police but couldn’t because he was prevented by another set of officers. Nelson, to the extent possible, complied with every command and was non-threatening despite the disturbing presence of the police officers. During all the commotion, a campus police officer fired pepper balls in the direction of Nelson and one unfortunately struck him in the eye causing him to sustain a permanent eye injury.
There was some dispute about who gave the order and was it authorized, but the 9th Circuit ultimately ruled that regardless of the target there was no reason to use violent weapons against youths who posed no visible threat. The court unanimously ruled that the officers used unreasonable force.
The 9th Circuit sent a strong message that police officers may be held liable for injuries sustained when firing projectiles to disperse a crowd. As for Nelson, he never played football again for UC Davis, but he did return to school and graduated.
Read the opinion HERE.
