Thomsen v. Ross.

U.S. District Court

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Thomsen v. Ross, 368 F.Supp.2d 961 (D.Minn. 2005). A detainee brought a [section] 1983 civil rights action against a county and county employees, alleging he was wrongfully strip searched and suffered a broken hand after he arrested on driving under the influence (DUI) charges. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants in part, and denied it in part. The court found that even if a police officer grabbed the detainee and threw him to the floor, his actions did not amount to the use of excessive force in violation of due process, absent evidence that the officer's actions caused the detainee's lost tooth and broken hand. The court found that the detainee's broken hand was not a serious medical need, such that a 48-hour delay by county employees in taking the detainee to a hospital could amount to deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, absent evidence that a red and swollen hand was a critical or escalating situation requiring immediate attention, or that the delay jeopardized the detainee's prognosis. The court noted that employees took the detainee to the hospital on the on the evening he made the written request for treatment. (Crow Wing County Jail, Minnesota)