Joe Peppers v. Washington County, Tenn., 686 F. App'x 328

Stewart Peppers was arrested and jailed in Washington County, TN; he exhibited erratic behavior and was suspected of drug use and violent offenses.
On April 29, 2013, corrections officers intervened after Peppers became agitated; officers used chemical spray, a Taser, restraints, a restraint chair, and a spit hood; Peppers became unresponsive and later died.
Autopsy concluded death was accidental from Excited Delirium related to steroids and cannabinoids; plaintiffs’ expert attributed death to asphyxiation from restraint chair and spit hood.
Plaintiffs sued the county, sheriff, and individual officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging excessive force and municipal liability (failure to train).
Plaintiffs’ key witness, fellow detainee Shawn Dorsey, refused to testify at trial after a recorded discovery deposition; plaintiffs sought to use the prior deposition, defendants opposed as hearsay and prejudicial.
District court excluded Dorsey’s deposition as inadmissible and prejudicial (defendants lacked full opportunity to cross-examine), then granted summary judgment for defendants on qualified immunity; summary judgment for county on failure-to-train also affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of Dorsey’s prior deposition under Rule 804(b)(1) (former testimony)	Dorsey is unavailable; prior deposition should be admissible against defendants because they had opportunity and similar motive to examine during discovery.	Deposition is hearsay and defendants lacked full and fair opportunity to cross-examine (new recording revealed Dorsey’s motive for revenge learned after deposition).	Court upheld exclusion: district court acted within discretion to exclude given prejudice from inability to cross-examine about recording.
Effect of excluding Dorsey on qualified immunity for individual officers	Excluding Dorsey eliminates plaintiffs’ only material evidence of excessive force; thus summary judgment for defendants is improper.	Without Dorsey’s testimony plaintiffs cannot show constitutional violation; qualified immunity appropriate.	Court affirmed summary judgment for individual officers on qualified immunity after exclusion of Dorsey’s deposition.
Municipal liability (failure to train)	County’s training practices contributed to death; county liable.	County provided use-of-force and restraint-chair training; plaintiffs offered no evidence that training was deficient or deliberately indifferent.	Court affirmed summary judgment for Washington County; plaintiffs failed to show inadequate training or causal link.

United States v. Churn, 800 F.3d 768 (6th Cir. 2015) (district court evidentiary rulings reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Griffin v. Finkbeiner, 689 F.3d 584 (6th Cir. 2012) (summary judgment reviewed de novo)
Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn, 552 U.S. 379 (2008) (district court has discretion to assess probative value and balance under Rules 401 and 403)
United States v. Schultz, 855 F.2d 1217 (6th Cir. 1988) (credibility determinations are for the jury; courts should not exclude testimony solely on credibility)
United States v. Dixon, 413 F.3d 540 (6th Cir. 2005) (broad discretion to district courts on relevance and prejudice determinations)