Jennifer Kilnapp v. City of Cleveland, Ohio -Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
The Sixth Circuit addressed whether Officer Bailey Gannon violated fellow officer Jennifer Kilnapp’s Fourth Amendment rights when a bullet he intentionally fired at a suspect instead struck her. The court held that a person hit by an intentionally fired shot is seized even if she was not the specific target, but because that principle was not clearly established before Torres v. Madrid (2021), Gannon is entitled to qualified immunity. Consequently, the panel vacated the district court’s denial of summary judgment and remanded.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a person who is unintentionally struck by a police officer’s bullet is 'seized' under the Fourth Amendment when the officer intentionally fired to restrain someone else.
Circuit Positions
An unintended target is seized when the officer intentionally uses force in circumstances objectively manifesting an intent to restrain (no need for specific-target intent).
No Fourth Amendment seizure occurs unless the officer specifically intended to restrain the person who was actually shot; collateral victims are not seized.
Conflict Summary
Several circuits hold that an unintended (or collateral) victim is not seized unless the officer specifically intended to restrain that very individual, while other decisions (now including the Sixth Circuit) hold that a seizure occurs whenever an officer intentionally deploys deadly force with an objective intent to restrain and the bullet strikes any person, regardless of whom the officer had in mind.