UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ LARHONDA DUNLAP PEREZ, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ │ v. > No. 23-5193 │ │ BRYAN SIMPSON, Officer, │ Defendant, │ │ │ JOSH PATRICK, Officer, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Bowling Green. No. 1:18-cv-00064—Gregory N. Stivers, District Judge.

Decided and Filed: October 11, 2023

Before: KETHLEDGE, THAPAR, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.

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COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Jason Bell, BELL, HESS & VAN ZANT, PLC, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, for Appellant. Aaron Bentley, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. When Officer Josh Patrick tried to arrest LaRhonda Perez, she ran. After a chase, Perez suddenly stopped at a street, and Officer Patrick tased her. Perez sued, No. 23-5193 Perez v. Simpson, et al. Page 2

alleging Officer Patrick used excessive force. The district court denied him qualified immunity. Because Officer Patrick’s appeal rests on a factual dispute, we dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

I.

Officers Bryan Simpson and Josh Patrick drove to LaRhonda Perez’s house to execute seven felony arrest warrants. Officer Simpson approached Perez behind the house. After a brief exchange, Perez bolted.

Officer Patrick and Perez agree on most of what happened next. Perez twisted and wove her way through the neighborhood—including across a two-way street—in a chase the length of two football fields. While running, Officer Patrick ordered her to stop. Perez didn’t listen. So Officer Patrick fired his taser. He missed, and Perez kept fleeing. She headed toward another two-lane street, intending to cross. But a row of moving cars stood in her way, so she stopped.

Here’s where the accounts diverge. Perez alleges she raised her hands and stood still, expecting to be handcuffed. Officer Patrick claims she didn’t raise her hands and instead took off running. Both agree, however, that at that moment, Officer Patrick made the split-second decision to fire his taser again. This time, it connected. Perez fell forward and hit her chin on the ground, fracturing her jaw. She later pled guilty to evading police and resisting arrest.

Perez filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging Officer Patrick used excessive force when he fired his taser. The district court denied Officer Patrick’s request for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. This appeal follows.

II.

We start and end with our jurisdiction. Typically, we lack jurisdiction to review a denial of summary judgment. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We may, however, review a denial of qualified immunity, but