PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Citing a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman has tossed out local protester Donavan LaBella’s case against the unnamed federal marshal who shot him in the head with a less-lethal munition during a racial justice protest outside Portland’s federal courthouse in July of 2020.
Mosman dismissed the case on Feb. 14, stating that his decision was influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Egbert v. Boule case, the Oregonian first reported. In June of 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Washington man Robert Boule was unable to sue Border Patrol agent Erik Egbert for damages after he injured Boule during an unwarranted search of his bed and breakfast in 2014.
In what the American Civil Liberties Union called “a blow to federal police accountability,” the Supreme Court instead ruled that it was Congress’s job, not the court’s, to implement and strengthen laws that permit citizens to sue federal agents for abuse.
Video of the July 12 protest showed blood pouring from LaBella’s head after the round struck his forehead. LaBella’s attorney James Healy told KOIN 6 in 2020 that his client “suffered a significant brain injury” as a result of the munition strike. LaBella was released from the hospital several weeks after the injury, which required facial reconstruction surgery. LaBella was hospitalized for the injury a second time after the wound became infected, Healy said.
In a motion to dismiss the case, the defense cited a number of Supreme Court rulings, including Egbert v. Boule.
“As the Supreme Court held, ‘officers are often forced to make split-second judgments — in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving — about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation,’” the defense wrote citing the 1989 excessive force case Graham v. Connor. “The Ninth Circuit and District of Oregon have similarly recognized the challenges law enforcement officers face when determining the appropriate amount of force during civil unrest.”
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General announced an investigation into use of force allegations by DOJ law enforcement officers in Portland during July of 2020. According to a 2020 press release, Inspector General Michael Horowitz said that the investigation was sparked by congressional requests and complaints submitted to the Office of Inspector General.