Driscoll v. City and County of Denver, The, 1:21-cv-02866

Michael Driscoll sued the City and County of Denver and multiple officers after being struck in the head by a projectile during the 2020 George Floyd protests in Denver.
He asserted claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force, First Amendment violations, and a Monell claim for failure to train or supervise against Denver and its officials.
The court earlier dismissed claims against particular officers for statute of limitations and qualified immunity, and dismissed Driscoll’s failure-to-train claim for lack of factual support on allegations regarding officer training.
After a jury in a related case (Epps) found Denver liable for failure to train during the same protests, Driscoll moved for reconsideration, arguing issue preclusion and manifest injustice if his claim was not revived.
Denver moved for summary judgment on the § 1983 claims, arguing Driscoll could not show a constitutional violation by a Denver officer or that a Denver policy caused his injuries.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Reconsideration of failure to train dismissal	Epps case precludes Denver from relitigating failure-to-train; manifest injustice if not reconsidered	Epps is not controlling law/evidence; Driscoll's complaint remained deficient; no manifest injustice	Motion to reconsider denied; Epps does not change the analysis
Denver officer as cause of injury	Driscoll claims Denver SWAT shot him, supported by videos and police report	Driscoll cannot identify shooter; evidence only speculative, could have been mutual aid (Jeffco SWAT)	No genuine issue of material fact that Denver officer shot Driscoll
Denver policy as moving force for mutual aid actions	Denver’s policies and direction made mutual aid agencies their agents; policies caused the injuries	Mutual aid agencies used their own force policies; no evidence Denver policy caused injury	No evidence Denver policy was cause; summary judgment granted
Liability under Monell for actions of municipal ‘agents’	Jeffco SWAT acted as agents of Denver due to command directives	Policy was to let mutual aid use their own protocols; no causal link established	No municipal liability; evidence insufficient

Monell v. Dep't of Social Services of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658 (municipal liability requires policy or custom as moving force)
Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436 (issue preclusion bars relitigation of ultimate facts)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (summary judgment standard; genuine issue for trial)
Park Lake Resources Ltd. Liability v. U.S. Dep't of Agriculture, 378 F.3d 1132 (issue preclusion elements)
Board of County Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397 (municipal liability and causation standards)
Schneider v. City of Grand Junction Police Dept., 717 F.3d 760 (causation required for § 1983 municipal liability)
Jiron v. City of Lakewood, 392 F.3d 410 (municipal liability elements under Monell)
Bryson v. City of Oklahoma City, 627 F.3d 784 (various ways to establish Monell liability)