Gomez v. Saccoccio

Officer Eric Gomez shot David Saccoccio as Mr. Saccoccio tried to find his way home from a civil rights protest in downtown Phoenix in the hours after a mandatory curfew set in. Officer Gomez did not have reason to suspect Mr. Saccoccio of having committed a violent crime and did not fear for his own or his fellow officers’ safety. The shot fractured Mr. Saccoccio’s arm, requiring surgery.

Mr. Saccoccio brought an excessive force claim against Officer Gomez. The district court granted summary judgment for Officer Gomez, holding that he was entitled to qualified immunity. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed, explaining that existing law clearly established “the right of an individual breaking curfew, but not in a crowd, nor posing any immediate threat to others, nor having committed any violent crime, and only briefly failing to comply with police, not to be shot with a munition that can cause serious injury.”

Officer Gomez petitioned the Supreme Court for review. Serving as co-counsel for Mr. Saccoccio in the Supreme Court, we prepared the brief in opposition to the petition. The opposition brief explained that the court of appeals conducted a proper qualified immunity analysis and correctly held that Officer Gomez violated David Saccoccio’s clearly established rights. The Court denied the petition.