Sharon CARR, individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Joshua Morgan, deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. V.S. DEEDS, individually and as an agent of the State of West Virginia; Howard E. Hill, Jr., as Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police, in his official capacity; State of West Virginia, Defendants-Appellees, and T.D. Bradley, individually and as an agent of the State of West Virginia, Defendant. Sharon Carr, individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Joshua Morgan, Plaintiff-Appellant, and Joshua Morgan, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. T.D. Bradley, individually and as an agent of the State of West Virginia; Howard E. Hill, Jr., as Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police, in his official capacity; State of West Virginia, Defendants-Appellees.
Nos. 05-1472, 05-2186.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued May 23, 2006. Decided July 12, 2006.
453 F.3d 593
The jury had not been empaneled until the trial began, the morning of October 12, and North Carolina law was quite clear that the juror Waddell was disqualified as a cousin of a prosecuting witness as a matter of law under State v. Allred, 275 N.C. 554, 169 S.E.2d 833 (1969). But no challenge was made to the seating of Waddell at that time, or later, before verdict, and Conaway‘s attorneys moved only that the trial court “examine, juror No. 1, [Waddell] to ascertain his kinship, if any.” The motion was denied. J.A. 1101g.
The trial on the merits commenced on October 12th, and continued on October 13, 14 and 15, when the case was sent to the jury. The jury returned its verdict the afternoon of the 15th. Conaway testified for himself on October 14th and 15th, and Harrington had testified on October 12th and 13th on behalf of the State. Both were cross-examined, as were all of the witnesses whose testimony was other than purely routine and subject to little contradiction or interpretation. Through all four days of the trial on the merits, Conaway and his attorneys sat silent as to Waddell‘s disqualification, with the disqualified juror, Waddell, sitting on the jury. This was no helter-skelter defense but was active and strenuous. I am convinced that, on this record, Conaway and his attorneys suffered Waddell to be on the jury and cannot now take advantage of any error relating to his sitting.
Before TRAXLER and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge TRAXLER wrote the opinion, in which Judge GREGORY and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined.
OPINION
TRAXLER, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Sharon Carr, individually and as administratrix of the estate of her son Joshua Morgan, brought this action under
I.
Because this is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment to the defendants,
On June 20, 2001, Trooper Deeds and at least two other law enforcement officers arrested Morgan at the home of Dale Arbaugh pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant for suspected arson of Arbaugh‘s home. Morgan was transported to the State Police Barracks in Lewisburg, and then to the Southern Regional Jail in Beckley, by one or more of these officers. Upon his arrival at the Regional Jail, Morgan was medically evaluated and found to have a cut on his lip, also described as a “busted lip,” J.A. 70, and an abrasion on his right flank or abdomen. No other injuries were noted, and there was no report or complaint of a physical altercation.
Morgan‘s mother, stepfather, and brother visited Morgan at the police station later that day. Morgan‘s mother testified that Morgan was bleeding from his mouth and had abrasions to his shoulder and rib area. Morgan‘s stepfather testified that Morgan had a swollen lip, “blood coming out of his mouth when he would spit,” J.A. 236, and abrasions to his shoulders and abdomen area. Morgan‘s brother testified that Morgan had a swollen eye and “a couple [of] cuts and bruises.” J.A. 242-43. None of the witnesses observed any use of force by any officer. However, they testified that, when Morgan was asked about the injuries, he either pointed to or verbally indicated that Deeds had inflicted them.
Two days later, after Morgan had been released from custody, he saw Dr. Craig Bookout at the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center emergency room. According to Dr. Bookout, Morgan had a small cut on his lip and abrasions to his right shoulder and elbows, which Morgan reported to be from “an altercation with a state police officer” on June 20. J.A. 200. Morgan also complained of pain in his ribs and a bruised temple, but indicated these were not the result of the altercation. No other injuries were noted. Dr. Bookout was given no information regarding the circumstances of the alleged altercation, nor was the identity of the officer revealed to him. Arbaugh, who had been present when Morgan was arrested, testified that he also saw Morgan after he was released from custody. He testified that Morgan had a black eye, a couple of “places” on the side of his face, and bruises on his arms and legs. Morgan filed no complaint with the West Virginia State Police for any alleged wrongful conduct by its officers.
On July 10, 2001, Morgan‘s mother completed an Application for Involuntary Custody for Mental Health Examination of her son in Greenbrier County, certifying that she had reason to believe Morgan was addicted to either alcohol or drugs and that his addiction was likely to cause serious harm to him or others. According to the certification, Morgan told her the day before “that he would take a bullet in the head before he would go to jail.” J.A. 91. At the time, there were at least two outstanding warrants for Morgan‘s arrest. The Greenbrier County Circuit Court issued an order for detention, directing the Greenbrier County Sheriff to take Morgan into custody for purposes of a probable cause hearing and mental health examination.
Alicia and Timothy Holliday were close friends of Morgan, and Morgan had been staying at their home in Monroe County for several weeks. When Timothy learned that there were outstanding warrants for Morgan‘s arrest, however, he asked Morgan to leave because he did not want his family involved. Morgan told Alicia that day or the day before that “he would kill himself or anyone who tried to take him down, including the police,” J.A. 132, and
Later that day, the Greenbrier County Sheriff‘s office contacted Monroe County Sheriff Gerald Bland, advised him that Morgan was reportedly at the Holliday residence, and requested that Morgan be taken into custody pursuant to the outstanding warrants and commitment order. Deputy John Farmer and Deputy J.A. Greer were dispatched to the Holliday residence to apprehend Morgan, but he was not there. The deputies were aware that Morgan might be armed, and the Hollidays confirmed this fact.
Shortly after leaving the Holliday residence, Farmer received radio notification that Morgan‘s vehicle had been spotted nearby. While en route to the location, Farmer met Morgan‘s vehicle coming towards him. Farmer turned around and pursued the vehicle with lights and sirens, but Morgan did not stop. After traveling several miles, Morgan abruptly stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road, opened the door, and placed one foot on the pavement. Farmer ordered Morgan to get out of the vehicle. After approximately thirty seconds, Morgan stood outside the vehicle, but Farmer could not see Morgan‘s right hand. When Farmer ordered Morgan to place his hands on the back of the vehicle, Morgan fled on foot over an embankment. As Farmer was pursuing Morgan on foot, Morgan turned and fired at least two shots. Farmer then lost sight of Morgan and returned to the road to call for assistance.
Sheriff Bland and Deputy Greer were the first to arrive at the scene. Troopers from at least three different detachments of the State Police, including Bradley and Deeds, also responded to the call for assistance and began taking positions to contain Morgan in the area. At about this time, the officers learned of a report that an armed man had attempted to stop a woman in the roadway. Assuming that Morgan was attempting to get a ride out of the area, Bradley, at that time still en route to the scene, began relaying instructions to other troopers to block roads out of the area and check vehicles.
Shortly after Bradley and Deeds arrived at the scene, two officers reported that they had spotted Morgan and relayed the location to the others. Deeds and Bradley, armed with a rifle and shotgun respectively, immediately proceeded to the location and began searching for him on foot. While searching, the troopers heard a noise and Bradley spotted Morgan approaching the officers in a crouched position with a pistol in his hand. Bradley ordered Morgan to drop the gun, but Morgan dropped to the ground instead and fired two or three rounds at the troopers. Bradley and Deeds returned fire and repeatedly ordered Morgan to drop his weapon. Morgan continued to fire at the troopers, and gunfire was again exchanged. After Bradley fired a shot that he believed hit Morgan and Morgan did not respond to verbal calls, Bradley and Deeds jointly approached Morgan and discovered that he was dead. The other officers were advised that the threat was over and the scene was immediately secured for investigation. An autopsy was subsequently performed by Dr. Zia Sabet, M.D., Deputy Chief Medical Examiner with the State of West Virginia. Dr. Sabet concluded that Morgan “died as a result of multiple (undetermined) shotgun wounds of the head, back, abdomen, and upper and lower extremities,” and found “no evidence of close range firing on the skin.” J.A. 191.
On June 21, 2004, after the close of discovery, defendants moved to exclude the testimony and opinions of plaintiff‘s expert, Dr. John T. Cooper, under
On July 1, 2004, defendants also filed a motion for summary judgment. With regard to the June 20 arrest, defendants asserted that plaintiff had failed to produce sufficient evidence that Morgan was injured in an altercation with Deeds and, in the alternative, that the claim should be dismissed because Morgan‘s injuries were de minimis. With regard to the July 10 incident, defendants asserted that plaintiff had failed to produce sufficient evidence that Deeds and Bradley employed deadly force that was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances. In the alternative, defendants asserted that plaintiff‘s claim did not survive Morgan‘s death.
The district court granted defendants’ motion to exclude plaintiff‘s expert and granted, by separate order, defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The district court found that Deeds was entitled to qualified immunity from the assault claim because Morgan‘s injuries were de minimis and that the deadly force claim did not survive Morgan‘s death.1
II.
We begin with plaintiff‘s appeal from the district court‘s order granting summary judgment on the deadly force claim brought under
A.
Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, police officers performing their discretionary duties “are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which
We begin our analysis of an excessive force claim brought under
A claim that a police officer used such excessive force during an arrest is analyzed under an “objective reasonableness” standard. An officer‘s actions are not excessive if they “are ‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the facts and circumstances confronting [him], without regard to [his] underlying intent or motivation.” id. at 397. Determining the reasonableness of the challenged actions “requires a careful balancing of the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual‘s Fourth Amendment interests against the countervailing governmental interests at stake.” Id. at 396 (internal quotation marks omitted). Proper application of the test of reasonableness also “requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances of each particular case, including the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.” Id. “Because ‘police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving,’ the facts must be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and the use of hindsight must be avoided.” Waterman v. Batton, 393 F.3d 471, 476-77 (4th Cir.2005) (quoting Graham, 490 U.S. at 397) (internal citation omitted).
“[T]he intrusiveness of a seizure by means of deadly force is unmatched.” Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 9, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985). However, such deadly force may be employed “[w]here the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others.” Id. at 11. “Thus, if the suspect threatens the officer with a weapon or there is probable cause to believe that he has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm, deadly force may be used if necessary to prevent escape, and if, where feasible, some warning has been given.” Id. at 11-12.
B.
In this case, Morgan was the subject of at least two valid warrants for his
Under the circumstances, we have no trouble concluding, as a matter of law, that a reasonable officer could have believed that Morgan posed a significant threat of serious physical harm to them, their fellow officers, and any others who might encounter him during his flight. Accordingly, absent any evidence negating the threat, Deeds would clearly be entitled to qualified immunity for his use of deadly force.3
C.
Plaintiff does not directly dispute that Morgan fired upon the officers, or that Morgan posed a significant risk to himself and others when Farmer attempted to take him into custody. Rather, plaintiff alleges that Deeds and Bradley tracked Morgan down in the woods, disarmed or incapacitated Morgan, and then placed their pistols against Morgan‘s head and executed him. Because the only evidence submitted in support of this allegation of an execution-style murder is contained in the reports of Dr. John Cooper, we turn now to plaintiff‘s appeal of the district court‘s order excluding Dr. Cooper as an expert witness. We review the district court‘s exclusion of plaintiff‘s expert witness for an abuse of discretion. See Southern States Rack & Fixture, Inc. v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 318 F.3d 592, 595 (4th Cir.2003).
a complete statement of all opinions to be expressed and the basis and reasons therefor; the data or other information considered by the witness in forming the opinions; any exhibits to be used as a summary of or support for the opinions; the qualifications of the witness, including a list of all publications authored by the witness within the preceding ten years; the compensation to be paid for the study and testimony; and a listing of any other cases in which the witness has testified as an expert at trial or by deposition within the preceding four years.
In this case, plaintiff filed her complaint on June 13, 2003, attaching the initial and supplemental reports of Dr. Cooper. In the reports, Dr. Cooper identifies himself as an Independent Medical Examiner with California Autopsy and Consultation in Fair Oaks, California, but there is no further information or elaboration regarding his credentials. In the reports, Dr. Cooper opines that Morgan died from “multiple bullet wounds to the head, administered at close range by one or more handguns,” and that three of the wounds “exhibit characteristics of contact wounds.” J.A. 21-22. Given that he identified himself only as a medical examiner, Dr. Cooper also asserts the rather remarkable opinion that Morgan “had been disarmed, if in fact he was ever armed, and he had been incapacitated by shotgun fire” prior to his “purposeful execution,” and that the police officers were not “acting lawfully in self-defense or in the interest of public safety.” J.A. 22.
On September 10, 2003, the district court entered its scheduling order, setting forth a discovery deadline of June 1, 2004, and a trial date of August 25, 2004. Plaintiff was required to make her expert disclosures by February 1, 2004; defendants were required to make their expert disclosures by March 1, 2004. Plaintiff, however, did not serve a
On May 21, 2004, defense counsel advised plaintiff‘s counsel that the latter‘s failure to provide the requisite information with respect to Dr. Cooper rendered defendants “unable to sufficiently prepare for his deposition which we had hoped to take on May 27, 2004.” J.A. 401. Defense
Plaintiff‘s counsel contends that he made three unanswered telephone calls to defense counsel regarding the cancellation of the deposition and that he faxed a letter in response. However, plaintiff‘s counsel made no belated effort to obtain the requisite information or serve a disclosure for Dr. Cooper. Instead, plaintiff‘s counsel pointed to the reports of Dr. Cooper attached to the complaint and advised defense counsel that “[i]f you believe more is required perhaps you should review the information you provided regarding Dr. Fowler.” J.A. 409. Three days later, plaintiff‘s counsel faxed a second letter to defense counsel advising that the “Plaintiff‘s Rule 26 documents are being copied and will be mailed to you tomorrow provided you agree to do the same with your Rule 26 documents.” J.A. 418. Despite this representation, and the fact that defendants had filed and supplemented their expert disclosure two months earlier, plaintiff still did not serve a disclosure or forward any documents containing the required information.
Discovery closed on June 1, 2004. On June 21, 2004, defendants moved under
On May 28, 2004, defendants advised plaintiff that Dr. Sabet, the West Virginia medical examiner who conducted Morgan‘s autopsy, was “not a witness who was retained or specially employed by the defendants to provide expert testimony in the matter but rather had performed the autopsy in the regular course of employment with the coroner‘s office.” J.A. 415-16. There was, therefore, no requirement that defendants complete a
On March 23, 2005, more than one year after the expert disclosures were due under the scheduling order and more than ten months after the dispute over the deposition of Dr. Cooper arose, the district court granted defendants’ motion to exclude Dr. Cooper as a witness. As of that time, plaintiff had still failed to provide the information required under the rule.
On appeal, plaintiff asserts that her failure to comply with the rule was either “surely inadvertent” or justified by her belief that defendants had failed to comply with their obligations under the rule; plaintiff also contends that her failure was harmless because Dr. Cooper‘s opinions were attached to the complaint. We address each contention in turn.
To the extent plaintiff asserts that her refusal to provide the information was “substantially justified” because defendants did not comply with
Plaintiff‘s claim that her failure was harmless because Dr. Cooper‘s reports were attached to the complaint is also unavailing. Plaintiff argues that the “simple failure to disclose fairly rote information . . . did not unduly surprise or prejudice Defendants“. Appellant‘s Brief at 22. Like the district court, we are unpersuaded. As noted above, Dr. Cooper‘s reports reveal nothing more than that he is an independent medical examiner with California Autopsy and Consultation. They provide absolutely no information about his qualifications, any publications authored by him, the compensation he would be paid for his work and testimony, or other cases in which he had testified as an expert. Nor is the omitted information fairly characterized as “rote.” Indeed, we have previously recognized the critical importance of this type of information, particularly in cases which turn upon expert testimony:
Rule 26 disclosures are often the centerpiece of discovery in litigation that uses expert witnesses. A party that fails to provide these disclosures unfairly inhibits its opponent‘s ability to properly prepare, unnecessarily prolongs litigation, and undermines the district court‘s management of the case. For this reason, “[w]e give particularly wide latitude to the district court‘s discretion to issue sanctions under
Rule 37(c)(1) “.
Saudi v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 427 F.3d 271, 278-79 (4th Cir.2005) (emphasis added) (quoting Southern States, 318 F.3d at 595).
This is such a case. Plaintiff has no evidence, beyond Dr. Cooper‘s opinions, to substantiate her allegation that Deeds and Bradley unconstitutionally employed deadly force against Morgan. Yet, as a consequence of plaintiff‘s failure to provide the information plainly required by the rule, defendants were not permitted to investigate Dr. Cooper‘s licensure, training, background, or expertise, nor were they in a position to determine whether Dr. Cooper possessed the requisite qualifications to render the rather broad range of opinions contained in his reports.
In sum, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion by excluding Dr. Cooper as a witness because plaintiff did not demonstrate substantial justifica-
D.
To be sure, plaintiff‘s allegations in this case are most serious, but they are equally serious for both sides of this controversy. The district court afforded plaintiff a full and sufficient time to discover and produce evidence to substantiate her allegations by proper and admissible evidentiary support, but plaintiff failed to do so. “One of the principal purposes of the summary judgment rule is to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims or defenses,” and
III.
We now turn to plaintiff‘s appeal from the district court‘s order granting summary judgment on her claim that Deeds employed excessive force against Morgan following the June 20 arrest. Deeds moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity for this claim as well, asserting that there is insufficient evidence to prove that he was involved in any altercation with Morgan, as well as insufficient evidence that Morgan‘s alleged injuries were more than de minimis.
“[E]xcessive force claims of pretrial detainees are governed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Riley v. Dorton, 115 F.3d 1159, 1166 (4th Cir.1997) (en banc). To succeed, the plaintiff must first demonstrate “that Defendants’ inflicted unnecessary and wanton pain and suffering‘” upon the detainee. Taylor v. McDuffie, 155 F.3d 479, 483 (4th Cir.1998) (quoting Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986)). “The proper inquiry is whether the force applied was in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “Even if there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Defendants behaved maliciously or sadistically after the need for force has subsided,” plaintiff must also demonstrate that the injuries were “more than de minimis” or that “the force used [is] of a sort repugnant to the conscience of man-
Accordingly, in order to avoid summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity, it was incumbent upon plaintiff to produce sufficient admissible evidence from which a jury could conclude that Deeds employed at least some force against Morgan in a malicious or sadistic manner, and that the injuries resulting from such force were more than de minimis.5 Deeds is entitled to qualified immunity because, regardless of the severity of Morgan‘s alleged injuries, the record is devoid of any facts to prove that Deeds employed the force that inflicted those injuries.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, it appears that Deeds and at least two other law enforcement officers arrested Morgan at Arbaugh‘s home on June 20, and that one or more of these officers transported Morgan to the State Police Barracks. Morgan was then transported to the Southern Regional Jail, where witnesses observed some minor injuries when Morgan was processed. Other witnesses observed a few additional, but still relatively minor, injuries after Morgan was released from jail. However, plaintiff presented no admissible testimony or other evidence from which a jury could conclude that any of those injuries were inflicted by Deeds.
No witness observed any altercation between Morgan and any state police officer. Although Dr. Bookout testified that Morgan told him that some of the injuries were the result of an altercation with a state police officer, Morgan did not identify Deeds as the officer involved or provide any facts as to the circumstances of the alleged altercation. Thus, the only evidence that plaintiff can point to in an effort to implicate Deeds is the testimony of the three family members and Arbaugh to the effect that Morgan either told them or indicated by pointing that Deeds had inflicted the injuries. These statements by Morgan are hearsay and not admissible to create a genuine issue of material fact on
Plaintiff‘s attempt to demonstrate that Deeds made an “adoptive admission” to assaulting Morgan because he was present in the room when Morgan made the statements to his family members also fails. Under the
In this case, there is testimony that Deeds was in the room when the family was visiting, but plaintiff has not demonstrated “sufficient foundational facts from which the jury could infer that the defendant heard, understood, and acquiesced in the statement.” Id. Nor has plaintiff offered an argument that a police officer, conducting his official duties in the presence of a detainee and his family, “would normally be induced to respond” to the detainee‘s claim, made solely to his family, that the officer had assaulted him. Indeed, we think it more likely that the officer would ignore the statement rather than risk antagonizing or inciting the detainee or his family by disputing it.
Finally, even if Deeds had made an adoptive admission, the admission would not save plaintiff‘s case from summary judgment. An outright admission by Deeds that he inflicted the injuries would reveal nothing about the circumstances of the force employed, and plaintiff would still suffer from the unfulfilled burden of establishing that the force was excessive under the circumstances; i.e., that it was inflicted “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm,” rather than “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline.” Taylor, 155 F.3d at 483 (internal quotation marks omitted).
This brings us to plaintiff‘s argument that Deeds bore the burden to present an affidavit stating whether he heard Morgan‘s statement, whether he was involved in an altercation with Morgan, and, if so, what the circumstances were surrounding that altercation. Plaintiff argues Deeds’ failure to present evidence that Morgan engaged in conduct that prompted the use of responsive force or otherwise explain Morgan‘s injuries creates the presumption that Deeds employed excessive and punitive force against Morgan that day. At a minimum, plaintiff argues, Deeds failed to properly support his motion for summary judgment, leaving a question of fact regarding how Morgan‘s injuries were sustained.6
This argument is wholly without merit. As an initial premise, we note that the plaintiff did not raise as an issue on appeal the defendants’ failure to file a properly
In Celotex, the district court granted summary judgment against plaintiff because the plaintiff “was unable to produce evidence in support of her allegation in her wrongful-death complaint that the decedent had been exposed to petitioner‘s asbestos products.” 477 U.S. at 319. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the motion was defective because the defendant had “made no effort to adduce any evidence, in the form of affidavits or otherwise, to support its motion.” Id. at 321 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that although the “party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact,” id. at 323 (emphasis added), there is “no express or implied requirement in
In short, there is no burden upon “the party moving for summary judgment to produce evidence showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. at 325 (emphasis added). Rather, “the burden on the moving party may be discharged by ‘showing‘—that is, pointing out to the district court—that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party‘s case.” Id. “[R]egardless of whether the moving party accompanies its summary judgment motion with affidavits, the [summary judgment] motion may, and should, be granted so long as whatever is before the district court demonstrates that the standard for the entry of summary judgment, as set forth in
To conclude, we hold that Deeds is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law because the plaintiff failed to bring forth admissible evidence from which the jury could conclude that he was involved in an altercation with Morgan, and certainly no evidence that Deeds employed force that was excessive under the circumstances. Deeds’ entitlement to qualified immunity, therefore, arose well before any need to evaluate the severity of Morgan‘s injuries. Accordingly, we affirm the district court‘s grant of qualified immunity to Deeds.
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court‘s order excluding plaintiff‘s expert report and affirm the district court‘s order granting summary judgment to the defendants.
AFFIRMED.