Buchanan Ex Rel. Estate of Buchanan v. Maine

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

The law is no stranger to the tragedies of life. In February 2002, Michael Buchanan, a mentally ill man, was shot to death inside his isolated Maine home when he repeatedly stabbed one of two deputy sheriffs who had gone to check on Buchanan’s safety and welfare.

Believing that Buchanan’s death was preventable, Michael’s brother Daniel, as administrator, and the estate (together, “plaintiff’) filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Lincoln County, two sheriffs, and the two deputy sheriffs, saying that the officers should never have entered the house and that their…