The Brief
- A U.S. judge determined that deputies accused of excessive force don’t have legal immunity.
- This decision comes after several parties sued two deputies and the interim Osceola County sheriff.
- The deputies shot at four individuals who took a pizza without paying from a Kissimmee Target in 2022.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A judge denied legal immunity for two Osceola County deputies after they were accused of unreasonable and excessive force used in a reported burglary incident at a Target in Kissimmee in 2022.
What we know:
Normally, law enforcement officers would get qualified immunity – meaning they can’t be sued unless they clearly violated constitutional rights. The judge says the deputies’ actions were “so egregious it was obvious a constitutional right was violated.”
Michael Gomez, Joseph Lowe, Ian Joi and representatives of Jayden Baez – who was killed in a deputy use of force incident at a Kissimmee Target in 2022 – filed a civil lawsuit against two Osceola County deputies and interim Sheriff Christopher Blackmon citing unreasonable and excessive force. …