Simon Gebregziabher v. Christopher Tanner

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: December 20, 2022
• Docket: 22-1077
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 22-1077 ___________________________

Simon Gebregziabher

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant

v.

Francis G. Slay, Mayor and Board of Police Commissioners, Official Capacity; Richard Gray, Board of Police Commissioners, Official Capacity; Thomas Irwin, Board of Police Commissioners, Official Capacity; Erwin Switzer, Board of Police Commissioners, Official Capacity; Marcus Bush, Police Officer, Individual Capacity

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants

Christopher Tanner, Detective, Individual Capacity

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellee

Paul Piatchek, LT of the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Individual Capacity; Matthew Burle, Police Officer, Individual Capacity; Mickey Christ, Police Officer, Individual Capacity; John Doe, #1 (DSN # unknown)

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis ____________

Submitted: December 15, 2022 Filed: December 20, 2022 [Unpublished] ____________ Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Simon Gebregziabher appeals the district court’s1 adverse grant of summary judgment, as well as the adverse grant of judgment following a bench trial, as to certain excessive force claims in this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. Having carefully reviewed the record and the parties’ submissions on appeal, we decline to consider Gebregziabher’s arguments challenging the adverse grant of summary judgment, which were raised for the first time on appeal. See Wever v. Lincoln Cnty., Neb., 388 F.3d 601, 608 (8th Cir. 2004) (ordinarily, appellate court will not consider arguments raised for first time on appeal). We further find no basis for reversal of the district court’s judgment following the bench trial. See Story v. Norwood, 659 F.3d 680, 684-85 (8th Cir. 2011) (findings of fact at bench trial reviewed for clear error; credibility determinations “virtually unreviewable” on appeal); Mann v. Yarnell, 497 F.3d 822, 825 (8th Cir. 2007) (reasonableness of official’s conduct under circumstances is question of law). Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Shirley P. Mensah, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, to whom the case was referred for final disposition by consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).

-2-