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. Plakas told them that he had wrecked his car and that his head hurt. It is from that point on that we Judge the reasonableness of the use of deadly force in light of all that the officer knew. But Plakas does have at least one opinion on which he may build his argument, that is, Tom v. Voida, 963 F.2d 952 (7th Cir. 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. 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. Our historical emphasis on the shortness of the legally relevant time period is not accidental. Id. Plakas died sometime after he arrived at the hospital. Plakas was turned on his back. Koby sought to reassure Plakas that he was not there to hurt him. Hyde v. Bowman et al Filing 82 ORDER ADOPTING the 78 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS as the Court's opinion, overruling Hyde's 81 Objections, dismissing all of his claims, and directing the Clerk of Court to close this case. It is significant he never yelled about a beating. Even if Koby did beat Plakas, Koby was not at the scene of Plakas's demise. Yet we rejected the proposition "that the Fourth Amendment prohibits creating unreasonably dangerous circumstances in which to effect a legal arrest of a suspect." Through an opening in the brush was a clearing. Roy went out and found Cain, whom he knew, and reported that Plakas was at the Ailes home and willing to come out. 1988) (en banc), police officers shot and wounded a masked bank robber fleeing from the scene of his crime. 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. 5. 378, 382 (5th Cir. He tried to avoid violence. It is true we consider the whole of the event as it appears to the officer involved, but we recognize that the decision to shoot can only be made after the briefest reflection, so brief that "reflection" is the wrong word. Morton v. Kirkwood, 707 F.3d 1276, 1281 (11th Cir. Further, says Plakas, a photograph of the clearing shows there was no tree there to stop Drinski, just a sapling, and there are no footprints corroborating Drinski's story of retreat. He swore Koby would not touch him. Cain stopped and spoke to Plakas who said he was fine except that he was cold. My life isn't worth anything." The clearing was small, but Plakas and the officers were ten feet apart. She decided she would have to pull her weapon so that he would not get it. Moreover, about ten minutes before the shooting, the services of a canine unit (from Lake County) were offered. Plakas did agree to go to the Sheriff's Department to be tested for intoxication. near:5 gun, "gun" occurs to either to See, e.g., John Barry & Tom Morganthau, Soon, 'Phasers on Stun', NEWSWEEK, Feb. 7, 1994, at 24-26. Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 310 (5th Cir. Further, says Plakas, a photograph of the clearing shows there was no tree there to stop Drinski, just a sapling, and there are no footprints corroborating Drinski's story of retreat. This inference, however, cannot reasonably be made. This appeal followed. Mailed notice(cdh, ) Download PDF . Plakas remained semiconscious until medical assistance arrived. 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. We believe the defendant misunderstands the holding in Plakas. Seventh Circuit. The police could have tried to put barriers between themselves and Plakas and maintain distance from him. He turned back to Drinski who was 12 to 15 feet away and, with the poker raised, charged at Drinski who backed away. As he did so, Plakas slowly backed down a hill in the yard. When Cain and Plakas arrived, the ambulance driver examined Plakas. Plakas complained about being cuffed behind his back. Roy stayed outside to direct other police to his house. Nor does he show how such a rule of liability could be applied with reasonable limits. He also said, in substance, "Go ahead and shoot. 1991); Tom v. Voida, 963 F.2d 952, 961 (7th Cir. Then gripping it with both hands, he continued screaming, louder and louder at Cain and Koby. Cain told Corporal Koby to check Plakas for intoxication and he told Koby why. He fled but she caught him. 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. armed robbery w/5 gun, "gun" occurs to 3. Deputy Drinski passed by the injured Koby and asked him with what he was hit; Koby told him that Plakas had a poker. This is not a case where an officer claims to have used deadly force to prevent an escape. The only argument in this case is that Plakas did not charge at all. Reaching for the chemical repellant exposed the firearm to her assailant, so she decided for the firearm and not the CS gas. Drinski was faced with a man who had, minutes before, attacked a police officer with a dangerous weapon, had refused several entreaties to disarm, had told the officer that one of the two would die that night, and then had moved toward the officer while raising his weapon to strike. Cain smelled alcohol on Plakas's breath and Plakas dozed off as they rode to the place where the car had gone off the road. It is from that point on that we judge the reasonableness of the use of deadly force in light of all that the officer knew. Deputy Drinski passed by the injured Koby and asked him with what he was hit; Koby told him that Plakas had a poker. Plakas ran to the Ailes home located on a private road north of State Road 10. 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." Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Plakas V. Drinski. They noticed that his clothes were wet. We adopt the version most favorable to plaintiff. King called for assistance and another Newton County officer, Corporal David J. Koby, and two paramedics, Glen Cain and Steven Whitt, responded. Perras only saw that Drinski stumbled in his retreat either because he backed into something or simply tripped. In brief, after the officer stopped to help the man, his actions and his flight showed he was unhurt and may well have stolen the bike from which he fell. Subscribe to Justia's Free Summaries of Eleventh Circuit opinions. Koby reported the escape and called for help. There can be reasonable debates about whether the Constitution also enacts a code of criminal procedure, but we think it is clear that the Constitution does not enact a police administrator's equipment list.7 We decline to use this case to impose constitutional equipment requirements on the police.8. Konstantino Plakas was shot once and killed by Jeffrey Drinski, a deputy sheriff. He moved toward her. Plakas agreed that Roy should talk to the police. Drinski did most of the talking. Plakas turned and faced them. She chased him and, when she caught him, he attacked her, banging her head into a concrete surface. 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. Dickerson, 101 F.3d at 1161 (quoting Plakas v. Drinski, 19 F.3d 1143, 1150 (7th Cir. at 1276, n. 8. Plakas backed into a corner and neared a set of fireplace tools. 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. Then Plakas tried to break through the brush. The closest thing we have to such a list is the rule which requires prison administrators to provide a law library to inmates, but even here we only require this as an alternative to providing other forms of legal assistance. At times Plakas moved the poker about; at times it rested against the ground. In doing so, courts must ask whether the force applied was "objectively reasonable in light of the facts confronting the officer." Crenshaw v. Lister, 556 F.3d 1283, 1290 (11th Cir. Voida could not have subdued Tom through lesser means, as she did not have her nightstick with her and she feared that reaching for her chemical repellant would expose her weapon to Tom's grasp. 1989). Plakas was calm until he saw Cain and Koby. We refuse to impose as an additional constitutional requirement the firing of a warning shot before deadly force may be used." 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. The plaintiff there was the administrator of the estate of You can explore additional available newsletters here. 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. On the way to the scene of the accident, Cain noticed Plakas walking along State Road 10. See Martin L. Fackler, M.D., Police Handgun Ammunition Selection, WOUND BALLISTICS REVIEW, Fall 1992, at 32-37 (suggesting little effect beyond stopping movement). 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. 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. Officers found out that Plakas was involved in an accident, so an officer drove Plakas back to the scene. 3. Plakas refused medical treatment and signed a written waiver of treatment. 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. 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. The record before us leaves only room for speculation about some circumstances. None of these devices is unfailingly effective and safe, and courts and juries are unlikely to be capable of judging when they ought to be used. In Ford v. Childers, 855 F.2d 1271 (7th Cir. Cain left. Indeed, Plakas merely states this theory, he does not argue it. Cain examined Plakas's head and found nothing that required medical treatment. 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." Pasco, et al v. Knoblauch. 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. 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. Reaching for the chemical repellant exposed the firearm to her assailant, so she decided for the firearm and not the CS gas. Cited 428 times, 109 S. Ct. 1865 (1989) | Cited 651 times, 105 S. Ct. 1694 (1985) | The fact remains that both officers say that Drinski's retreat occurred and that it ended by virtue of some circumstance other than Drinski's volition. Then gripping it with both hands, he continued screaming, louder and louder at Cain and Koby. Also, in Carter v. Buscher, 973 F.2d 1328 (7th Cir. Plakas yelled a lot at Koby. The alternatives here were three. The handcuffs were removed. The officers told Plakas to drop the poker. In brief, after the officer stopped to help the man, his actions and his flight showed he was unhurt and may well have stolen the bike from which he fell. 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). 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. Konstantino Plakas was shot once and killed by Jeffrey Drinski, a deputy sheriff. From a house Plakas grabbed a fire poker and threaten the . ", (bike or scooter) w/3 (injury or She had no idea if other officers would arrive. 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. 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. Perras took the poker. They called Plakas "Dino." Let's analyze another landmark decision, this one of Plakas v. Drinski (1993), decided by the US 7th District Court of Appeals, Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. 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. 8. Filing 89. An alternative plan could have reduced or eliminated the possibility of the arrestee's use of a gun. Northern District. 2. See Gilmere v. City of Atlanta, 774 F.2d 1495, 1501 (11th Cir. But when she did so, Plakas had already been in one car accident, had cracked his head against the front seat shield in Koby's car, had run a considerable distance through forest and open terrain with his hands cuffed behind his back and, finally, when he entered the Ailes home, he did so by falling face down on the floor. 1. the officers conduct violates a federal statutory or constitutional right. Roy told him that he should not run from the police. Cain and some officers went to the house. This is not a case where an officer claims to have used deadly force to prevent an escape. Hyde v. Bowman et al. Perras would have shot Plakas if Drinski had not. Appx. The district Judge disagreed and granted summary judgment. Disagreed and granted summary judgment, 811 F. Supp 1271 ( 7th.. And that his head hurt Plakas slowly backed down a hill in the brush was a clearing to put between. 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