Lawsuit against ex-deputy who killed woman going to trial
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A civil rights case involving a former Bradley County deputy is going to trial after a federal appeals court sided with a Chattanooga U.S. District Court judge who said the case should go forward.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Harry S. Mattice’s ruling Friday that former deputy Dustin Patrick wasn’t entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity, which shields public officials from liability for civil damages.
No trial date is set.
Patrick shot Armetta Foster eight times in 2011. He says she slashed at him with a knife and drove off in his patrol car.
Foster’s father, Leonard Foster, filed a federal civil lawsuit, saying Patrick used excessive force, violating his daughter’s Fourth and Fourteenth amendment rights.
