Home      Login

Abstract: 

Marvin L. Booker was arrested by Denver police on a warrant based on his failure to appear at a hearing on a drug charge. It would prove to be an arrest, followed by use of force, and then delayed medical care from which he would not survive. We look at the facts of Booker v. Gomez , 745 F.3d 405 (10th Cir. 2014), with special focus on defendants’ claim that because they did not check Booker’s vital signs—itself an admission of negligence—they were unable to recognize defendant’s serious condition after a chokehold and tasering, and thus could not be held liable. The court rejected this extraordinary reasoning and refused to grant summary judgment as defendant had requested. The trial will go forward with, as analyzed here, a strong case against Denver for a denial of care claim.

Keywords: Denial of care claim

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.