Tennessee V. Garner Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tennessee V. Garner - Research Paper Example The woman who had reported the said burglary explained to them that she had witnessed someone break into the next door and the officers quickly responded by searching the said premise. As Hymon covered the back, he saw someone running from that address and pursued him. With the help of his flashlight, he spotted someone hiding next to a backyard fence thirty to forty feet away and commanded the young man to stop but the suspect ignored and made an attempt to jump off the fence. It was at this moment that Hymon fired a shot that struck the fleeing suspect in the head as he fell. Later identified as fifteen -year-old Edward Garner, the suspect died while undergoing treatment shortly after the shooting incident. Later in 1975, Garner’s father filed a civil suit against the police department of Memphis, the mayor, director of police and the officer involved-Hymon claiming that his son’s constitutional rights had been violated (Blume, 21). In this suit, the slain suspect rights were said to have been violated by Officer Hymon under the 4th, 8th and 14th amendments at the time of his shooting. The other defendants were sued for to taking due care in the hiring process and poor supervision of the police officer that the plaintiff claimed was responsible for his son’s death in equal magnitude (Blume, 23). The first trial was held in 1976 and in the end; the district court gave a motion for a verdict directed in favor of the city and its police department. On appeal, there was an affirmation by the Sixth Circuit on aspects of the ruling by the district court in their decision to dismiss the case against individual defendants. The court was however instructed to review if municipality had the liberty to be granted immunity because its policies were in tandem with state law and not so, relook into whether deadly force while arresting