French v. Hines

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting that when an officer uses excessive force she loses the privilege to commit assault and battery while effectuating an arrest
• noting that where “an officer uses excessive force, . . . [the] officer’s nonprivileged use of force constitutes battery” (emphasis omitted) (quoting Sonja Larsen & Thomas Muskus, 6A C.J.S. Assault § 35 (2008 Supp.))
• observing that Buckhannon did not control state law
• discussing the inconsistency of a jury award of punitive damages without a finding of actual malice, when presented with evidence that the plaintiff bent over to get her purse at a traffic stop (only to be faced with the officer's drawn gun
• “[B]attery can only occur when there is no legal authority or justification for the arresting officer’s actions.”
• “[T]he Graham standard is applied consistently in Maryland courts.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).