## Facts

- Officer Curtis Carney stopped Jerry T. Coble after observing erratic driving late at night; Coble continued to his home before stopping in his driveway.
- At the driveway, Coble argued with Carney, refused to comply with commands, and began walking toward his house.
- Carney used pepper spray and a take-down maneuver; Coble suffered an open fracture of his right ankle.
- Carney and another officer handcuffed Coble; according to the record, once handcuffed Coble offered no further resistance.
- Events after handcuffing occurred out of camera view; an audio recording from Carney’s microphone captured sounds but not visuals.
- Coble testified that after handcuffing Carney pulled him up by the handcuffs, forced him to walk several steps on the broken ankle (leaving a long blood trail), and later dropped him face-first onto concrete.
- Carney testified he realized the ankle was broken and immediately sat Coble down, denying that he made Coble walk on the injury or dropped him.
- Coble sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force; federal claims against the City were dismissed by stipulation, leaving claims against Carney.
- The district court granted summary judgment to Carney, ruling the audio recording negated Coble’s account and, on that basis, also granted qualified immunity.

## Issues

1. Whether the audio recording so “blatantly contradicted” Coble’s testimony about post-handcuffing force that a court could disregard his version at summary judgment.
2. Whether the conflicting accounts created a genuine dispute of material fact on Fourth Amendment excessive force.
3. Whether qualified immunity could be granted when the summary-judgment record, viewed in the nonmovant’s favor, supported a potential clearly established excessive-force violation.

## Decision

- The Sixth Circuit reversed summary judgment and remanded.
- The court held the audio recording did not “blatantly contradict” Coble’s testimony merely because it lacked audible screams or the sound of a fall.
- The court found a genuine dispute of material fact about what force, if any, was used after Coble was handcuffed.
- Because the qualified-immunity ruling depended on the same erroneous rejection of Coble’s testimony, the grant of qualified immunity could not stand on that record.

## Legal Principles

- At summary judgment, courts must view evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and may not make credibility determinations.
- A court may reject a party’s version under the “blatant contradiction” rule only when the record evidence conclusively refutes it; that doctrine is applied narrowly.
- The absence of sounds on an audio recording is generally insufficient, by itself, to conclusively prove the nonoccurrence of alleged events.
- Force against a handcuffed, non-resisting arrestee can violate the Fourth Amendment; whether the right was clearly established may depend on the factfinder’s resolution of disputed events.

## Conclusion

The Sixth Circuit held that an audio recording’s silence did not conclusively disprove a plaintiff’s testimony about post-handcuffing excessive force, requiring a jury to resolve the disputed facts and requiring reconsideration of qualified immunity on a record that credits the nonmovant’s evidence.


Coble v. City of White House, 634 F.3d 865 (6th Cir. 2011)