Cohen v. City of Portland, 110 F.4th 400

Eric Cohen, while experiencing a psychotic episode, attacked his girlfriend and entered Portland's Back Cove, where he drowned due to hypothermia.
His estate sued the City of Portland, two police sergeants (Gervais and Rand), and a firefighter (Giroux) for failing to rescue Cohen, alleging violations of substantive due process rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
The district court dismissed state-created danger claims against the officers under Rule 12(b)(6) and later granted summary judgment to the firefighter and the City on all remaining claims.
The estate appealed the dismissals and summary judgments to the First Circuit.
The appeals focused on whether the officers' and City's actions or inactions amounted to constitutional violations, particularly in crisis intervention and failure-to-train allegations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
State-created danger (Gervais)	Gervais failed to rescue or perform CPR—deliberate indifference.	Gervais' actions did not create/increase risk; at worst, negligence only.	No constitutional violation; claim dismissed.
State-created danger (Rand)	Rand failed to rescue Cohen or allow immediate rescue efforts.	No constitutional duty to rescue; caution was not conscience-shocking.	No constitutional violation; claim dismissed.
State-created danger (Giroux)	Giroux's threat kept Cohen in the water, worsening the danger.	No evidence threat caused harm; causation too speculative.	No causation; summary judgment affirmed.
Failure to train (City)	Lack of crisis intervention training caused constitutional harm.	No predicate constitutional violation by employees; training argument fails.	No underlying violation; summary judgment granted.

DeShaney v. Winnebago Cnty. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 489 U.S. 189 (Due Process does not require government rescue from private dangers)
City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (Municipal liability for failure to train requires predicate constitutional violation)
Irish v. Fowler, 979 F.3d 65 (1st Cir. 2020) (State-created danger doctrine requirements)
Young v. City of Providence ex rel. Napolitano, 404 F.3d 4 (1st Cir. 2005) (Municipal liability requires individual officer violation)
County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 ("Shocks the conscience" standard for due process violations)