Thomas Olson, Appellant v. City of Hooper Bay, Officer Dimitri Oaks, Officer Charles Simon, and Officer Nathan…

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity for the initial taser deployments because the undisputed facts showed that Olson was actively resisting and posed an immediate threat. Existing case law and regulations did not independently give the officers notice that the later repeated tasings were excessive, but the superior court erred by refusing to consider the department's internal taser policy and whether the nature of the repeated tasings itself supplied notice. The court therefore reversed summary judgment and remanded for further consideration of those notice questions.