Lee V. Ferraro

In this civil rights case, Defendant Luis Ferraro, a police officer in the City of Miami, appeals the district court's denial of his motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. Plaintiff Kim D. Lee claims, inter alia, that Ferraro violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution when he arrested her for improperly honking her car horn on a busy city street during rush hour and when he applied excessive force in carrying out the arrest. After thorough review, we conclude that Ferraro is entitled to qualified immunity on Lee's wrongful arrest claim, but hold that the police officer is plainly not entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive force claim.