Linda Surratt v. Brian McClarin

EDITH BROWN CLEMENT, Circuit Judge:

In this qualified immunity case, the question on appeal is whether — in light of clearly established law at the time of the incident — officers acted objectively unreasonably when they applied force to the jaw and throat of a suspect who was believed to be hiding evidence in her mouth. Because we conclude that they did not, we AFFIRM.

I

On August 20, 2013, police officer Tom Caver of the Sherman Police Department effected a traffic stop, pulling over Lesa Ann Surratt (“Surratt”) for signaling one direction but then turning the other. The stop was pretextual.…