Estate of Wilford Deweese v. Hancock

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided August 19, 2026·No. 25-1161·Published

Opinion

FILED

United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS August 19, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court

ESTATE OF WILFORD DEWEESE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-1161

RONNIE HANCOCK; DANIEL LEBARON; LEVI HOOVER; JEFFREY SCHUELKE,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (D.C. No. 1:24-CV-00960-DDD-NRN)

Raymond K. Bryant, Civil Rights Litigation Group, LLP, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff- Appellant.

Jonathan N. Eddy, SGR, LLC, Denver, Colorado (Eric M. Ziporin, SGR, LLC, Denver, Colorado; Bryan E. Schmid and Steven W. Martyn, El Paso County Attorney’s Office, Colorado Springs, Colorado, with him on the brief) for Defendants-Appellees.

Before MATHESON, EID, and CARSON, Circuit Judges.

CARSON, Circuit Judge.

When a government official asserts the defense of qualified immunity, the plaintiff bears the burden to show that the law clearly established that the official’s

actions violated a constitutional right. To satisfy this burden, the plaintiff must usually identify an on-point Supreme Court or published Tenth Circuit decision. That decision must be particularized to the facts of the case and cannot be overly generalized.

Wilford Deweese stopped at a bar in Manitou Springs, Colorado, for a drink.

After getting into an altercation at the bar, he attempted to pull a gun out of his pocket. Someone called 911. Officers found Deweese in a courtyard down the street. After Deweese refused to comply with requests to surrender for nearly twenty minutes, officers sent in a canine to attack and bite him. When Deweese pulled out his gun to shoot the dog, officers shot and killed him. Deweese’s estate sued the officers. The officers asserted qualified immunity. The district court granted qualified immunity, determining that the officers’ conduct did not violate clearly established law. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.

I.

Wilford Deweese, a sixty-seven-year-old man from Florida, stopped in Manitou Springs, Colorado, on his way to Florida from California. 1 That evening, he went to a bar, ordered a single eight-ounce beer, and waited in line to play pool. While waiting, Deweese made some comments that offended the bartender, who

1 Because the district court granted qualified immunity at the motion to dismiss stage, we accept Plaintiff’s well-pleaded factual allegations as true and construe them in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. See Young v. Davis, 554 F.3d 1254, 1256 (10th Cir. 2009) (quoting Alvarado v. KOB-TV, L.L.C., 493 F.3d 1210, 1215 (10th Cir. 2007)). Our recitation of the facts reflects this principle.

subsequently refused to serve him, so he paid his tab and left. Deweese tried to go to another bar a few blocks away, but the bartender there decided she did not want him in the bar based on his appearance. So Deweese continued down the street but realized he had left some of his belongings at the first bar.

As Deweese returned to the first bar, the bartender confronted him. The two began to argue, and the bartender attempted to push him out of the bar. A bar patron got involved and pushed Deweese to the ground. Deweese got up and attempted to pull a gun out of his pocket to show that he could defend himself. At the first sight of the gun, the bartender yelled, “He’s got a gun, call 911.” Deweese left the bar, and someone called 911.

Deweese walked several blocks down Manitou Avenue and ended up in a small, open courtyard area between two buildings. A paved ramp with railings ran along one side of the courtyard next to a building, running perpendicular to the sidewalk before making a ninety-degree turn down into the courtyard. Manitou Springs Police Officers—Defendants Levi Hoover and Jeffrey Schuelke—found Deweese standing at the back of the ramp where it made the ninety-degree turn.

The officers immediately pointed their firearms at Deweese. Because it was dark, they also shone lights on him. They yelled various commands at Deweese, including to stop moving, show his hands, walk towards them, and drop what he was holding. Deweese yelled out to the officers that he had done nothing wrong and that someone assaulted him. Officers responded that they could not work with him or listen to his side of the story unless he complied with them. At some point, Deweese

used his phone to call a friend, seeking contact information for an attorney. At another point, he showed the officers the contents of a plastic bag he was holding, taking out a book and a bottle. Deweese also lifted his shirt to show that he had nothing in his waistband.

But Deweese did not comply or respond to all of the officers’ commands, such as to come toward them, and the officers viewed him as noncompliant. So the officers requested backup. El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the scene, including Defendant Daniel LeBaron. Around seven minutes after officers first made contact with Deweese, someone radioed to them that another officer was on his way with a less lethal 40 mm canon. About six minutes after that, Defendant Officer Ronnie Hancock arrived with his police canine, Jinx. Officer Hancock began issuing commands to Deweese.

The four officers discussed what they should do as Deweese continued to stand in the same position. Eventually, Officer Hancock got Jinx out of his vehicle and assumed command of the scene. Officer Hancock yelled out that if Deweese did not walk out with his hands up, he would send the dog in to bite him. Deweese responded, yelling that he would defend himself from the dog by shooting it if they sent the dog to attack him. After a few more minutes of Deweese not moving, Officer Hancock released the dog and yelled out for it to “attack” Deweese. The officers ran behind the dog with their firearms ready. As the dog approached Deweese, Deweese backed up a few feet before pulling out the handgun from his pocket and firing it at the dog. Immediately upon seeing Deweese’s gun aimed at the

dog, Officer LeBaron fired his weapon at Deweese. 2 The other three officers also fired their weapons at Deweese. Deweese died on the scene from the gunshots.

Deweese’s Estate (“Plaintiff”) filed this lawsuit against the four officers, seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and under C.R.S. § 13-21-131 for violations of Article II of the Colorado Constitution. His first claim alleged excessive force, conspiracy, and failure to intervene regarding the officers’ use of the canine, Jinx. The second claim alleged that the officers used excessive deadly force when they shot Deweese and recklessly incited the need for the deadly force.

Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that the law entitled them to qualified immunity. They argued that (1) their conduct did not violate Deweese’s constitutional rights, and (2) at the time, the law did not clearly establish their actions were unconstitutional. The district court agreed with Defendants’ second argument and granted Defendants’ motions to dismiss the federal claims on qualified immunity grounds. The district court then declined to exercise jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s remaining state-law claims, dismissing them without prejudice. 3 Plaintiff appealed.

2 Plaintiff’s complaint does not make clear whether Deweese or Officer LeBaron shot first. Drawing all reasonable inferences in Plaintiff’s favor, as we must, we assume that Officer LeBaron shot first, consistent with Plaintiff’s allegation that Officer LeBaron “fired immediately upon seeing Mr. Deweese’s gun aimed at the canine.”

3 Plaintiff does not appeal the dismissal of the state-law claims.

II.

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