‘Didn’t Deserve to Die’: Appeals Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Las Vegas Cop Who Knelt On Black Man As He Begged ‘for His Life’ 63 Times After Calling 911 for Help

Two Las Vegas police officers who kneeled and sat on a mentally ill man who had called 911 for help will have to face excessive force claims for killing him, a federal appeals panel ruled last week. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had contended that qualified immunity should shield the officers and the department from a wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2020 on behalf of Roy Anthony Scott. But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling in 2023 that found that qualified immunity doesn’t apply in this case. Officers Kyle Smith and Theodore Huntsman “violated Scott’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Roopali Desai on behalf of the panel in a 24-page opinion. “Because Scott was mentally ill, was not suspected of a crime, and did not present a risk to officers or others, the government’s interest in applying force was limited.” A video screenshot shows a Las Vegas police officer kneeling on Roy Anthony Scott. (Photo: Screenshot from court documents) “Our caselaw makes clear that any reasonable officer should have known that bodyweight force on the back of a prone, unarmed person who is...