A federal appellate court rejected a Medina County deputy sheriff’s immunity claims after he pepper-sprayed a detainee in the face at point-blank range in the back of his cruiser.
Deputy Jonathan Bates Nunemaker argued that qualified immunity shielded him from civil liability, but the court rejected this claim, finding that his actions plausibly constituted excessive force.
Background
In June 2023, Deputy Sheriff Nunemaker was on routine patrol in Castroville when he saw an automobile with its emergency lights flashing. After running the plate, he learned the vehicle had been reported stolen and was used during an armed robbery.
Nunemaker stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver—Branden Sanchez—placing him in the back of the cruiser. He proceeded to search the vehicle, finding drugs, a rifle-style pellet gun, and other items.
During the roughly 50-minute search, Sanchez repeatedly yelled and kicked the inside of the cruiser’s doors, refused to sit with his back against the seat, and complained that his handcuffs were too tight—demanding to be taken to jail. Nunemaker and another officer warned Sanchez several times that he would be pepper-sprayed or otherwise subdued if he continued his behavior.
Sanchez refused to comply, leading Nunemaker to grab his arm and sharply twist him, forcing him into the seat and causing his head to hit the cruiser’s hard cage partition.
Once the door was closed, Sanchez began kicking it again, yelling, and refusing to stay seated. Nunemaker walked to the other side of the cruiser and opened the door, aimed a pepper-spray device at Sanchez’s face, and fired from approximately 3.6 feet away—about half the seven-foot distance the manufacturer’s instructions state to be safe.
The device discharged a high velocity jet of pepper spray into Sanchez’s left eye, permanently blinding that eye.
Sanchez filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, arguing that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Nunemaker’s use of excessive force.
In response, Nunemaker filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that qualified immunity barred Sanchez’ claims. Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil lawsuits unless their conduct violates a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right.
The district court denied Nunemaker’s motion, finding that Sanchez had presented sufficient evidence that his “clearly established” constitutional rights were violated. Nunemaker appealed this decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Fifth Circuit Ruling
Last week, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower court decision, finding that Nunemaker’s immunity was waived by his use of excessive force. Judge Leslie Southwick wrote the opinion.
The court reasoned that to establish a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim, a plaintiff must show two things: (1) a seizure occurred; and (2) the force used was unreasonable. The first question was undisputed, leaving only the second for the court’s consideration.
“[A]t the time of the seizure, Sanchez did not pose a threat to the safety of the officers or others,” wrote Judge Southwick. “The physically slight seventeen-year-old was handcuffed, seat-belted in the cruiser, and surrounded by five officers.”
“Of course, Sanchez was disruptive and resisted Nunemaker’s commands to sit properly and face forward in the seat,” he continued. “Earlier, Sanchez had complied with Nunemaker’s orders to exit the BMW, lie on the ground, place his hands behind his back to be cuffed, and enter the cruiser. Sanchez was making no attempt to flee and instead was repeatedly demanding to be taken to jail rather than be required to wait while Nunemaker searched the vehicle.”
The court therefore concluded that Nunemaker’s discharging high-velocity pepper spray directly into Sanchez’s eye from half the manufacturer-provided minimum safe distance constituted a plausible claim of excessive force—worthy of waiving Nunemaker’s immunity.
Now that the motion to dismiss has been denied, the case will be remanded to the district court to proceed on the merits.
Earlier in the month, the Fifth Circuit upheld former Castroville Chief of Police Christopher Filline’s wire fraud conviction. He had been found guilty of conspiring to burn his wife’s car, reporting it stolen, and collecting over $14,000 in insurance money.
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