An Atlanta police officer whose use of a Taser on a 65-year-old panhandling suspect caused the homeless man’s paralysis and death must pay $21 million in an associated excessive force case, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Officer Jon Grubbs hit Jerry Blasingame in the back with the prong of a Taser without warning, causing him to fall down a steep embankment and hit his head on the concrete platform of a metal utility box at the bottom, case records show.
Blasingame, who was not armed and did not threaten Grubbs, suffered extensive brain and spinal damage and lived as a quadriplegic for several years before his injuries caused his death, according to court filings.
On Tuesday, a divided three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held there was sufficient evidence for a federal jury in Atlanta to decide in 2022 that Grubbs violated Blasingame’s constitutional right to be free from excessive force.
“When a non-dangerous and unarmed suspect takes flight, deadly force is disproportionate,” 11th Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan wrote in the court’s ruling. “Importantly, Officer Grubbs testified that he never saw a weapon on Mr. Blasingame. And he acknowledged that Mr. Blasingame never threatened him nor put him in ‘imminent fear’ of his life.”
Jordan further noted that Grubbs admitted he never provided any verbal warning before deploying his Taser.
11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom wrote in a partial dissent that Grubbs should be shielded from liability because his actions could be considered reasonable. He said it’s a “close call” as to whether Grubbs used unconstitutionally excessive force and doubtful the officer violated clearly established law.
“As an initial matter, it’s pretty unrealistic to think that a law enforcement officer responding in the heat of the moment should be charged with working his way through a multi-part balancing test before deciding whether to deploy his taser,” Newsom wrote. “Bottom line: This is a classic gray-area case — the very sort in which qualified immunity has (for good or ill) historically protected officers’ split-second judgments.”
Grubbs’ lawyers did not respond Wednesday to questions about the case.
Ven Johnson, an attorney for Blasingame, said in a statement Wednesday that “Blasingame’s quality of life was irreversibly changed by Officer Grubbs’ reckless decision to use force when it was neither justified nor necessary.”
“This ruling reinforces what should never have been in doubt: constitutional rights matter, excessive force has consequences and no one, including law enforcement, is above the law,” he said.
The Atlanta Police Department did not respond Wednesday to an inquiry about Grubbs, who has been employed there since December 2014 and does not have any disciplinary history on record with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
Grubbs attempted to apprehend Blasingame in the afternoon of July 10, 2018, when Blasingame was seen collecting money from a driver near an I-20 on-ramp, case records show. Blasingame ran from Grubbs and was hit with the prong of a Taser about 45 seconds later while running away, the 11th Circuit judges noted.
They said Grubbs visited a critically injured Blasingame in Grady Hospital a month after the incident to give him a citation for two misdemeanor offenses of pedestrian solicitation on a roadway and obstructing a law enforcement officer. Blasingame, whose skull was crushed and spinal cord damaged, could not move anything below his neck.
Grubbs faced internal discipline for failing to record the incident on his body-worn camera, court records show.
Blasingame sued Grubbs and the city of Atlanta in May 2019.
At the end of an eight-day trial in August 2022, a federal jury in Atlanta decided that Grubbs violated Blasingame’s constitutional right to be free from excessive force and that the city of Atlanta was also liable. The jury awarded Blasingame $100 million in damages, directing the city to pay $60 million and Grubbs the remaining $40 million.
At the time, Blasingame’s lawyers said the verdict was believed to be the largest excessive force verdict in the country’s history.
After trial, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones reduced the damages against Grubbs to $21 million and wiped out the rest of the verdict, finding that the city was not liable.
Grubbs and Blasingame’s guardian, Keith Edwards, separately appealed to the 11th Circuit.
The officer sought immunity, arguing his actions were reasonable. The guardian argued the jury’s $100 million verdict should be restored.
Blasingame died in September 2023, and Edwards became the representative of his estate.
On Tuesday, the 11th Circuit upheld the trial judge’s rulings.
“The district court found that Officer Grubbs’ conduct was reprehensible but not overly egregious,” Jordan wrote. “This finding — to which we owe deference — is supported by the record.”
The case can now return to the trial judge to determine if Grubbs should also pay the attorney fees for Blasingame’s estate.
Grubbs was ordered in May 2023 to pay $700 a month toward the judgment against him while the case was on appeal. The money was held by the trial court, which also barred Blasingame’s representative from garnishing Grubbs’ wages.
The city of Atlanta was ordered to pay a $2,000 “indemnification” portion of the judgment.
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