UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ DAWN HUGHEY, │ Plaintiff-Appellant, │ > No. 20-1804 │ v. │ │ ANTHONY EASLICK, │ Defendant-Appellee. │ │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Ann Arbor. No. 5:19-cv-10368—Judith E. Levy, District Judge.

Argued: April 27, 2021

Decided and Filed: June 28, 2021

Before: MOORE, COLE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________

COUNSEL ARGUED: Gina U. Puzzuoli, ROMANO LAW PLLC, Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, for Appellant. Daniel Hude, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Gina U. Puzzuoli, Daniel G. Romano, Richard A. Moore, ROMANO LAW PLLC, Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, for Appellant. Andrew J. Jurgensen, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Dawn Hughey’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit arises from a handcuffing during a traffic stop. Hughey alleges that Michigan State Trooper No. 20-1804 Hughey v. Easlick Page 2

Anthony Easlick yanked her left arm as he handcuffed her, that he ignored her complaints about pain in her left arm, and that the cuffs were overly tight. Hughey purportedly sustained a torn rotator cuff and ring marks around her wrists. Finding that Easlick is entitled to qualified immunity, the district court granted summary judgment to the trooper on Hughey’s excessive- force claim. Because Hughey has created a genuine dispute of material fact about whether Easlick violated her clearly established constitutional right to be free from excessive force, we REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

One day, Dawn Hughey was late to work. R. 1 (Compl. at 3) (Page ID #3). She hurtled down the highway—14 mph over the 70-mph speed limit—to her job at Goodwill. R. 21-3 (Hughey Dep. at 20) (Page ID #176); R. 21-2 (Easlick Dep. at 23) (Page ID #160). She zoomed by Michigan State Trooper Anthony Easlick, who flipped on his dashcam, pulled Hughey over, and strode over to her car. R. 21-3 (Hughey Dep. at 20) (Page ID #176); R. 21-2 (Easlick Dep. at 23) (Page ID #160); Dashcam 00:01–00:46.1

The next fourteen minutes are undisputed. Easlick discovered that Hughey’s car was uninsured and unregistered and that there was an outstanding warrant for Hughey’s failure to appear in court for a traffic violation. R. 21-2 (Easlick Dep. at 28–9) (Page ID #161–62). Easlick relayed that Hughey needed to pay the $400 bond on her warrant in cash immediately or he would have to take her to the courthouse to sort out the warrant. R. 21-3 (Hughey Dep. at 22) (Page ID #177); R. 21-2 (Easlick Dep. at 31–32) (Page ID #162); Dashcam 13:46–14:09. Hughey, unsurprisingly, did not have hundreds of dollars of cash in her possession. R. 21-3 (Hughey Dep. at 23) (Page ID #177). Crying, Hughey emerged from her ca