This case arises from an incident in March 2022 at a Kenosha, Wisconsin school cafeteria. Shawn Guetschow, a police officer working a second job as a security officer, responded to a confrontation between two sixth-grade students. Video footage shows Guetschow taking one student, J.P., to the ground, kneeling on her neck, and handcuffing her. J.P. sued under 42 U.S.C. §1983, alleging excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Guetschow moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity, arguing that the force was reasonable. The district court denied the motion, finding that there were genuine disputes of material fact regarding whether J.P. continued to struggle and the severity of the confrontation. Guetschow immediately appealed, arguing that the video evidence conclusively showed he was acting reasonably, making the issue one of law rather than fact.
Circuit Judge Easterbrook, writing for the panel, explained that the scope of appellate review in qualified immunity cases is strictly limited to questions of law. The court cited Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304 (1995), to establish that resolving factual contests is outside the scope of pre-trial appellate jurisdiction. The central question was whether the video evidence was so clear that it 'blatantly contradicted' one party's version of events, as seen in Scott v. Harris. The court found that the videos were pixelated and did not capture all of the action. Specifically, the footage did not conclusively show when J.P. stopped struggling or whether Guetschow kept his knee on her neck after she had surrendered. The district judge had noted that a reasonable factfinder could conclude J.P. was not resisting, or that the force used was unreasonable under the totality of the circumstances. Because the videos were not definitive, the court held that 'it isn't the existence of a video recording, but its quality, that enables a court to conclude without a trial that one side rather than another must be right about the facts.' Consequently, the court could not determine whether Guetschow transgressed clearly established rules of law without first resolving the factual disputes at trial.
The appeal is dismissed, and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings. The dismissal means the qualified immunity defense cannot be resolved at this stage. The case must proceed to trial where a jury will determine the material facts, such as the extent of J.P.'s resistance and the duration of the force used. Only after those facts are established can the court determine if the officer's conduct violated clearly established law.
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