Case Explained: Summary Calendar Katrina Danielle Mateen Plaintiff— v. City of Gulfport

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-08

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Officer Kenneth Nassar on qualified-immunity grounds. The court held that even assuming the officer’s use of force violated the Fourth Amendment, the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that the right was clearly established at the time of the incident. Applying the two-prong qualified immunity test, the court determined that existing precedent did not place the constitutional question beyond debate in this specific context. While general principles from *Tennessee v. Garner* and *Graham v. Connor* prohibit deadly force absent a significant threat of death or serious physical injury, the Supreme Court has clarified that these cases do not create clearly established law outside “obvious” violations. The court found no such obvious violation because the suspect was armed with a stolen handgun, fled after commands to stop, and turned to face the officer in a rapidly unfolding encounter involving a report of brandishing firearms and traffic violations. Consequently, a reasonable official would not have understood that using deadly force under these circumstances violated clearly established law. The practical consequence is that the plaintiff’s federal civil rights claim against the officer is dismissed, and the judgment stands as affirmed.

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