Hector Guzmn-Rivera v. Hector Rivera-Cruz

How courts have described this case

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

• noting that even though defendants had waived defense of qualified immunity at summary judgment stage, defense remained available for subsequent stage of litigation
• holding, however, that because the defendants in Guzman-Rivera waited until “very late in the pre-trial, post-discovery phase, despite the fact they had ample opportunity to have the issue resolved expeditiously earlier in the proceedings,” that the defense was waived
• “Since immunity must be affirmatively pleaded, it follows that failure to do so can work as a waiver of the defense.”
• defense waived for pretrial purposes where not raised promptly, and no explanation for delay presented
• “Delay generated by claims of qualified immunity may work to the disadvantage of the plaintiff. Witnesses may become unavailable, memories may fade, attorneys fees accumulate, and deserving plaintiffs’ recovery is delayed.”
• “[b]ecause the defense of qualified immunity may be raised and appealed at multiple stages of the trial, it would be inappropriate to find waiver for all stages in the current case.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).