Thomas E. Terrell v. Steve Smith, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 1689

Officer Stephan Smith, Palm Bay Police Department, used deadly force against Aaron Zylstra after a rapid, unfolding pursuit in the early morning hours of June 8, 2007.
Zylstra was stopped for driving at night without headlights; he refused to stop and attempted to flee, driving the vehicle toward the officer.
Zylstra’s parents and Thomas Terrell, personal representative of Zylstra’s estate, alleged Fourth Amendment excessive-force violations and asserted §1983 and Florida wrongful-death claims.
The district court denied Smith’s motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity; the case proceeded to appeal.
The Eleventh Circuit reviews qualified-immunity denials de novo, adopting the plaintiffs’ view of disputed facts for purposes of the analysis, and applies the two-pronged Pearson v. Callahan framework to determine (1) constitutional violation and (2) whether the right was clearly established.
Court ultimately held that Smith was entitled to qualified immunity; the deadly force was reasonable and the right was not clearly established at the time.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Smith violated the Fourth Amendment by using deadly force.	Zylstra’s rights were violated; lethal force was excessive.	Reasonable officer under the circumstances; no constitutional violation.	No violation; qualified immunity applies.
Whether the law was clearly established at the time to place Smith on notice of illegality.	There were clearly established standards or prior cases that would have warned Smith.	No clearly established law with sufficient notice given the case-specific facts.	Not clearly established; Smith entitled to qualified immunity.

Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) (objective reasonableness standard for use of force in Fourth Amendment cases)
Garner v. United States, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) (deadly force may be used to prevent escape where suspect poses threat; not controlling on these facts but informs framework)
Pace v. Capobianco, 283 F.3d 1275 (11th Cir. 2002) (high-threat restraint cases; supports objective-reasonableness framework and split-second decisions)
Robinson v. Arrugueta, 415 F.3d 1252 (11th Cir. 2005) (vehicle as deadly weapon; split-second decision to use force)
Long v. Slaton, 508 F.3d 576 (11th Cir. 2007) (officer may act to stop suspect in moving vehicle; waiting for threat not required)
McCullough v. Antolini, 559 F.3d 1201 (11th Cir. 2009) (consistently upheld qualified immunity where suspect used vehicle to threaten)
Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188 (11th Cir. 2002) (establishes fair-notice standard for clearly established law)