Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
B

Bryan v. MacPherson

608 F.3d 614 (2010)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Bryan v. MacPherson

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
608 F.3d 614 (2010)

Facts

Carl Bryan (plaintiff) was pulled over by Officer Brian MacPherson (defendant) in a routine traffic stop for a seat-belt violation. During the initial interaction, Bryan became extremely agitated with himself for failing to put on his seat belt. As a result, Officer MacPherson directed Bryan to pull his car over to the curb, and Bryan complied. Bryan continued to display strange and agitated behavior by shouting expletives at himself and hitting his steering wheel before exiting his vehicle, despite not being told to do so. Bryan was wearing only boxer shorts and tennis shoes when he exited and began hitting his thighs and yelling gibberish from a distance of 15 to 25 feet from Officer MacPherson. Without warning, Officer MacPherson then shot Bryan from behind with a taser gun, causing Bryan to fall and sustain injuries to his face and teeth. Bryan brought suit, claiming that Officer MacPherson’s use of nonlethal but excessive force violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Officer MacPherson moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion on multiple grounds and found that a reasonable jury could find that Officer MacPherson used excessive force. Officer MacPherson appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Wardlaw, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Civil Rights

Key Terms