Afederal judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the city of Mobile and two police officers in a wrongful-death lawsuit arising from the death of a man during a confrontation nearly three years ago.
That confrontation at a mobile home park in Theodore, caught on police body camera footage, occurred in July 2023. Officers questioned Jawan Dallas, who they said matched the description of the suspect in a possible burglary, and then got into a physical altercation when he tried to run.
During that confrontation, Officer Christian Davila used a Taser gun. U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose ruled that Davila’s use of force was “objectively reasonable” and that he is entitled to qualified immunity. DuBose pointed to testimony from a state medical examiner that “to a reasonable degree of medical probability and certainty,” Dallas died from cardiorespiratory failure caused by a mix of drugs in his system. The medical examiner also concluded that the use of the Taser did not cause the death. “Unfortunately, Mr. Dallas died from a heart attack approximately twenty minutes after he was handcuffed. … There is no evidence to refute these findings,” the judge wrote. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Dallas family, expressed disappointment with the ruling. He said the evidence is clear that Dallas, 36, was dry-stunned 15 times in 40 seconds. “We absolutely think the judge is wrong in her conclusion about what led to his death,” he told FOX10 News.DuBose also ruled in favor of the city and Officer Jarred Hutto, concluding that the plaintiff’s attorneys had “abandoned” their claims against them by failing to adequately respond to their legal arguments. Davila and Hutto went to Carol Plantation Mobile Home Park to investigate a report of a possible burglary. Lawyers for the Dallas family disputed that, arguing that at best, it was a case of trespassing. But DuBose noted that the dispatcher originally reported it as a possible burglary. According to court records, when the officers arrived, they saw Dallas behind the wheel of a car next to a property and another man behind a fence of one of the mobile homes. Davila asked Dallas for his license. After a few minutes, Dallas got out of the car and tried to run. A scuffle ensued. Davila told Dallas to stop resisting and used his Taser. Dallas repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.” DuBose acknowledged that in her ruling but wrote, “There is no evidence to support a finding that the force was categorically unconstitutional; the only evidence indicates that Mr. Dallas was resisting the Officers attempt to subdue him.”“Whether his behavior was caused by his desire to get away, his state of being intoxicated with illegal drugs, or his ‘involuntary’ body movements based on his reaction to being dry-stunned, he was clearly struggling with the Officers,” she wrote. “Moreover, there is no evidence to refute the Officers’ assertion that Mr. Dallas grabbed the Taser and at one point tried to bite Officer Hutto. This made him an immediate threat to the Officers.”UPDATE: Coast Guard finds overdue boat; still searching for missing fisherman Teacher’s wife wants charges dropped against students after sheriff says he was killed in prank gone wrongDISH drops WALA/Fox10 from its serviceMobile is loading up on fireworks for bigger-than-usual Fourth of July celebration
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