Clark v. Ziedonis

DECISION AND ORDER

MYRON L. GORDON, District Judge.

The defendant, Joseph Ziedonis, is a police officer who shot two fleeing youths suspected of committing a felony. His victims claim that excessive force was used in connection with the arrest and seek damages under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The liability issue turns upon the question of justification for his use of deadly force.

At the close of the bench trial in this matter, I made the following preliminary determinations: a) the defendant had reason to believe that a felony was in progress; b) the plaintiffs’ accounts of the…