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March 16, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Download PDF Add Note

Christopher Raddant v. Douglas County, Wisconsin

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

• Citations: None known
• Docket Number: 24-3293

• Judges: Rovner

• Opinion

• Authorities (24)

• Cited By (0)

• Summaries (0)

• Similar Cases (40.6K)

• PDF

Combined Opinion

                        by [Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2797/ilana-kara-diamond-rovner/)

In the

United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit

---

No. 24-3293
CHRISTOPHER P. RADDANT,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, WISCONSIN, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.

---

Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Western District of Wisconsin.
No. 3:22-cv-00555-jdp — James D. Peterson, Chief Judge.

---

ARGUED SEPTEMBER 22, 2025 — DECIDED MARCH 12, 2026

---

Before EASTERBROOK, ROVNER, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.
ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Christopher Raddant sued several
members of the Superior, Wisconsin police department and
Douglas County, Wisconsin, alleging that the defendants vio-
lated his civil rights by using excessive force at the Douglas
County jail as they searched him at the booking counter and
then placed him into a receiving cell. A jury found in favor of
the defendants on the one limited claim the district court al-
lowed Raddant to present to a jury—a question regarding use
2 No. 24-3293

of force at the booking counter of the police station. For all the
remaining issues, the district court granted the defendants’
motion for summary judgment prior to trial. Now on appeal,
with only the individual defendants remaining, Raddant
challenges that grant of summary judgment and the district
court’s decision to exclude his experts at trial. We affirm.
I.
In the dark of night, Officer Griffith Coffman noticed a
hastily parked vehicle with its windows open and expired
registration. He did not see anyone exit the car but soon no-
ticed Raddant wandering nearby. Their extended encounter
and conversation ended with Coffman arresting Raddant for
suspected bail violations.
Coffman’s body-worn camera recorded all of his interac-
tions with Raddant from their first encounter all the way
through Raddant’s processing at the local police station. For
the bulk of the almost forty-five minutes that the camera rec-
orded, Raddant went back and forth arguing with Coffman
and then other officers at the police station.1 By the time Rad-
dant arrived at the station, he was on an upward incline of
agitation. Coffman removed Raddant from the police vehicle
and eventually escorted him into the main booking area of the
station. In addition to Coffman’s body camera, two other cam-
eras in the booking area recorded the events—one from

1 Coffman accused Raddant of drinking alcohol in violation of his bail

conditions, and Raddant’s behavior and speech seen in the video support
the accusation. Raddant refused a breathalyzer test in the field, and the
question of his intoxication is not presented in this case. There is nothing
in the record about the training officers receive regarding engagement
with intoxicated or otherwise antagonistic arrestees, but those questions
loom large.
No. 24-3293 3

behind Raddant, and one from the front, although a counter
in the booking area obstructed the front view of Raddant from
the waist down. Once at the booking counter, defendant Of-
ficer Brett Larson began performing a pat-down search while
defendant Officer Randi Libby assisted. Throughout the pro-
cess, Raddant was agitated, complaining that he had an active
MRSA infection on his wrist and that Coffman had removed
his bandage. The defendants’ fact section of the brief de-
scribes at length how Raddant yelled, swore, and refused to
stop talking and arguing as instructed. But, of course, these
verbal behaviors do not justify any use of force and thus are
not helpful to a court’s analysis of the propriety of such force.
There is no doubt that the videos support a conclusion that
Raddant appeared to be an obnoxious, loudmouthed, irritat-
ing arrestee who refused to stop arguing when instructed.
Fourth Amendment law, however, assumes that police offic-
ers have thick skin, and does not tolerate force used out of
frustration or impatience. Unlike loud mouthiness and ob-
noxiousness, on the other hand, physical resistance and
threats to officer safety can justify the use of force, as do
threats of future physical actions. And so, for example, when
an officer at the booking desk asked Larson and Libby
whether she should call for assistance, and Raddant re-
sponded “Yea, you better,” the officers were entitled to take
his threat of future resistance seriously and take action ac-
cordingly. R. 57-1 at 41:59-42:02. Likewise, the officers’ assess-
ment of the use of force may also have been altered by Rad-
dant’s statement that if the officers continued to twist his arm
“we’re going to have issues.” R. 57-1 at 43:20-23. We focus,
therefore, only on Raddant’s acts of physical resistance or
threats of such acts, as opposed to his refusal to follow
4 No. 24-3293

commands like “stop talking,” or “be quiet,” and other verbal
annoyances.
Officers spent about eight minutes with Raddant at the
booking desk while they attempted to search him for weap-
ons and other contraband, during which time Raddant con-
tinued to argue with and exasperate the officers. Both parties
agree, and the video confirms, that Officer Larson told Rad-
dant, “you better stop or you are going to go to the floor, and
you are not going to go down gently either.” R. 57-1 at 42:07-
42:10. Under Raddant’s version of events, which we credit, he
spent much of the time at the booking counter asking for med-
ical help and to have the handcuffs loosened because they
were hurting his wrists. The video confirms that he did make
these requests. Under the defendants’ version of events, Rad-
dant was tensing his body and resisting the officers’ attempts
to search him. Tensing bodies are more difficult to discern in
the video, but there is definite evidence that the officers were
having difficulty completing their search. This factual dispute
provides a backdrop, but is not itself directly relevant on ap-
peal, as questions about use of force at the booking counter
were resolved at trial or are otherwise not presented here.
Eventually, all agree, and the video confirms, defendant-of-
ficers Thomas Johnston, David Phillips II, and Alan Clarke
joined Larson and Libby in the effort to assist with an unco-
operative arrestee. Libby informed Raddant that they would
move him to a receiving cell to complete the search.
In the district court, Raddant alleged that Officers Libby,
Larson, and Johnston “pulled Raddant backward by the
handcuffs” and “dragged [Raddant] down the hallway.”
R. 67 at 3. The district court found that the video evidence
contradicted Raddant’s version of the events and instead
No. 24-3293 5

showed Raddant walking down the corridor with the officers
walking behind him. The court concluded that the video “ut-
terly discredit[ed] the non-movant’s version of the facts.”
R. 77 at 13. Raddant does not appeal the district court’s con-
clusion about being dragged down the hallway or include any
details of the walk down the hallway. In his argument section,
however, he presents a few paragraphs about the moments at
the booking counter just before that walk down the hall—as-
serting that the officers first pulled Raddant backwards before
turning him around. As we discuss below, if Raddant meant
to include a claim about excessive force anywhere other than
the receiving cell, it has been waived, and even if it has not
been waived, the video evidence discredits his claim about
force used as he was turned around from the booking desk.
After escorting Raddant down the hallway to the receiv-
ing cell, Officers Johnston, Larson, Phillips, and Clarke pro-
ceeded to walk Raddant toward a bed-shaped concrete slab
in the receiving cell. Libby entered the cell a moment later.2
Johnston placed a mattress onto the slab. According to Rad-
dant’s version of the facts, officers pushed him forward so
that his left foot was on the mattress. Both parties agree that
Clarke then lifted Raddant’s right ankle at which point Rad-
dant fell forward. And because his hands were cuffed behind
his back, he was unable to break the fall onto his face. Accord-
ing to Raddant, as this was happening, Larson kicked the mat-
tress out from under him so that Raddant’s face hit the con-
crete slab and began to bleed. Officers called an ambulance to
take Raddant to the hospital for treatment. Raddant alleges
that as a result of the officers’ use of force, he was treated for

2 Another unidentified officer also accompanied the group but was

not named in the suit.
6 No. 24-3293

post-traumatic stress disorder, a tear of the labrum in his left
shoulder, a traumatic brain injury, and a nerve injury in his
left wrist, requiring multiple surgeries.
Raddant filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Wis-
consin state law, arguing that the defendants violated his
Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force and injur-
ing him in the process. By the time the suit reached the district
court on summary judgment, the claims had been honed to
the federal excessive force claims against Clark, Johnston,
Phillips, Larson, and Libby only. The district court organized
Raddant’s claims into three groups: “(1) force used in the
booking area (handcuffs and arm twisting), (2) force used
when moving Raddant from the booking area to the receiving
cell (‘dragging’ him by the wrists), and (3) force used in the
receiving cell (lifting up Raddant’s leg and removing the mat-
tress pad).” R. 77 at 8. The court allowed the following issues
to go to the jury: whether Libby and Larson should have loos-
ened or adjusted the handcuffs while Raddant was in the
booking area, and whether Larson twisted Raddant’s arm
while Libby refused to intervene. The district court judge
granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all
other matters. The jury found in favor of the defendants on
the fact issues that went to trial, and Raddant does not appeal
that jury verdict.
According to Raddant, the issues on appeal are as follows:
First, whether the district court erred by granting summary
judgment on the claim that the officers used excessive force in
the receiving cell, and second, whether the district court
abused its discretion by excluding Raddant’s experts.
No. 24-3293 7

II.
A. Excessive force cases involving pretrial detainees.
Raddant’s suit accuses the officers of violating his Fourth
Amendment rights, but it is not entirely clear whether Rad-
dant’s claim should have been brought pursuant to the Fourth
or Fourteenth Amendment. In broad brush strokes, the
Fourth Amendment generally applies to arrestees, while pre-
trial detainees find protection in the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. At the time of the alleged excessive
force, Officer Coffman had concluded his arrest and turned
Raddant over to jail personnel, and so Raddant was no longer
technically an arrestee. At the same time, Raddant had not yet
received a probable cause hearing. At least for some pur-
poses—particularly in cases involving conditions of confine-
ment and the provision of medical care—a detainee must pro-
ceed under the Fourth Amendment until a court has held a
probable cause hearing mandated by Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S.
103 (1975), and after such a hearing, the detainee must pro-
ceed under the Fourteenth Amendment. Pulera v. Sarzant, 966
F.3d 540, 549 (7th Cir. 2020). For claims of unlawful detention
or malicious prosecution, on the other hand, the Supreme
Court has held that “the Fourth Amendment governs a claim
for unlawful pretrial detention even beyond the start of legal
process.” Manuel v. City of Joliet, Ill., 580 U.S. 357, 369 (2017).
Here, of course, we are faced with a claim of excessive
force, and not unlawful detention or conditions of confine-
ment. Our sister circuits are not in agreement about whether,
in excessive force cases, pretrial detainees who have not yet
had a probable cause hearing must proceed under the Fourth
or Fourteenth Amendment. See Crocker v. Beatty, 995 F.3d
1232, 1253–56 (11th Cir. 2021) (Newsome, J., concurring)
8 No. 24-3293

(noting that circuit courts disagree about where to draw the
line between the applicability of the Fourth and Fourteenth
Amendments in excessive force cases). In this circuit in such
a situation, we held that a pretrial detainee who had not yet
had a probable cause hearing was required to bring his exces-
sive force claim under the Fourteenth Amendment. Forrest v.
Prine, 620 F.3d 739, 743 (7th Cir. 2010). We have not, however,
had much opportunity to explore further the line between the
Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments in pretrial detainees
who have not yet had a probable cause hearing.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kingsley v. Hendrick-
son, 576 U.S. 389 (2015), the choice between the Fourth and
Fourteenth Amendments mattered greatly, as we applied an
objective standard under the Fourth Amendment to claims
brought by arrestees, but applied the subjective components
of an Eighth Amendment analysis to claims by pretrial detain-
ees, requiring them to demonstrate that an officer had “an ac-
tual intent to violate the plaintiff’s rights or reckless disregard
for his rights.” Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 744 F.3d 443, 451 (7th
Cir. 2014), vacated and remanded, 576 U.S. 389 (2015) (citation
modified). On certiorari, the Supreme Court disagreed with
this circuit’s application of the subjective criteria, holding that
the “appropriate standard for a pretrial detainee’s excessive
force claim is solely an objective one. ” Kingsley, 576 U.S. at
397. After Kingsley, a pretrial detainee need not demonstrate
that officers were subjectively aware that their use of force
was unreasonable; the pretrial detainee need “show only that
the force purposely or knowingly used against him was ob-
jectively unreasonable.” Id. at 396–97. This is the functional
equivalent of the Fourth Amendment excessive-force inquiry
elucidated in Graham v. Connor, which asks “whether the of-
ficers’ actions are ‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the facts
No. 24-3293 9

and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their
underlying intent or motivation.” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S.
396, 397 (1989). As the Supreme Court noted a few years after
Kingsley, “[w]e need not address whether the Fourth or Four-
teenth Amendment provides the proper basis for a claim of
excessive force against a pretrial detainee [who has not yet
had a probable cause hearing]. Whatever the source of law, in
analyzing an excessive force claim, a court must determine
whether the force was objectively unreasonable in light of the
‘facts and circumstances of each particular case.’” Lombardo v.
City of St. Louis, 594 U.S. 464, 467 n.2 (2021) (per curiam) (quot-
ing Kingsley, 576 U.S. at 397 (quoting Graham, 490 U.S. at 396)).
At the end of the day, we will look to both Kingsley and Gra-
ham as we evaluate whether the use of force here was objec-
tively reasonable, with an emphasis on the Kinglsey factors as
those are, at least semantically, a better fit for a pretrial de-
tainee.
B. The use of video evidence in summary judgment pro-
ceedings.
Before video cameras became a ubiquitous part of our
landscape, courtroom factfinders were usually called upon to
weigh the reliability and integrity of witnesses’ recollections
of events that occurred outside of the courtroom. And, of
course, when evaluating a motion for summary judgment,
courts are forbidden from weighing the facts and deciding
whose version of events is more likely true. Esco v. City of Chi-
cago, 107 F.4th 673, 679 (7th Cir. 2024). When considering a
motion for summary judgment, we accept as true the material
and plausible facts of which the opposing party has personal
knowledge. Id. But what happens when the facts taken in the
light most favorable to the party opposing summary
10 No. 24-3293

judgment are directly contradicted by video evidence that a
court can view on its own? Must a court ignore the reality pre-
sented on video?
In Scott v. Harris, the Supreme Court answered this ques-
tion in a case involving video evidence, instructing lower
courts that “[w]hen opposing parties tell two different stories,
one of which is blatantly contradicted by the record, so that
no reasonable jury could believe it, a court should not adopt
that version of the facts for purposes of ruling on a motion for
summary judgment.” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380 (2007).
This is not a new rule, but rather a more specific iteration of
the concept that on summary judgment, courts need not ac-
cept facts that are so incredible or implausible that no reason-
able fact finder could believe them. See Payne v. Pauley, 337
F.3d 767, 773 (7th Cir. 2003); Hurt v. Wise, 880 F.3d 831, 840
(7th Cir. 2018) (explaining how this rule applies to video evi-
dence), overruled on other grounds by Lewis v. City of Chicago,
914 F.3d 472 (7th Cir. 2019).
The Scott holding, however, sets forth a definitively nar-
row exception to the general rule that courts do not weigh
facts or make credibility determinations on summary judg-
ment, allowing a court to disbelieve the non-movant’s presen-
tation of the facts only where the video “utterly discredit[s]”
that rendition of the facts. Kailin v. Vill. of Gurnee, 77 F.4th 476,
481 (7th Cir. 2023) (quoting Gant v. Hartman, 924 F.3d 445, 449
(7th Cir. 2019)). Our decisions have been clear about the strin-
gent limitations of the Scott holding. The Scott ruling “did not
create a per se rule that video evidence is always subject to an
appellate court’s independent assessment.” Hurt, 880 F.3d at
840. Moreover,
No. 24-3293 11

Sco does not hold that courts should reject a
plaintiff’s account on summary judgment
whenever documentary evidence, such as a
video, offers some support for a governmental
officer’s version of events. Instead, Sco holds
that where the trial court’s determination that a
fact is subject to reasonable dispute is blatantly
and demonstrably false, a court of appeals may
say so, even on interlocutory review.
Gant, 924 F.3d at 450 (internal quotations and citations omit-
ted).
We have noted time and again that it is the “rare case
where video evidence leaves no room for interpretation by a
fact finder.” Kailin, 77 F.4th at 481 (collecting cites); see also
Mendez v. City of Chicago, 160 F.4th 888, 892 (7th Cir. 2025)
(noting that videos that are “unclear, incomplete, and fairly
open to varying interpretations cannot resolve evidentiary
matters short of trial”). The actual portrayal of events in a
video may be clear, but trials allow parties to air competing
interpretations about video evidence by, among other things,
cross examining witnesses, explaining the surrounding cir-
cumstances, and by presenting expert testimony about the
limitations of video evidence. See, e.g. United States v. Protho,
41 F.4th 812, 822 (7th Cir. 2022) (noting that expert testimony
on video interpretation can assist the jury in evaluating video
evidence); United States v. Dorsey, 122 F.4th 850, 856 (9th Cir.
2024) (remarking that a detective’s testimony about video ev-
idence helped the jury by highlighting important details and
helping jurors to discern those details correctly); United States
v. Roberts, 84 F.4th 659, 670 (6th Cir. 2023) (explaining how
trial court procedures can vet bias, authenticity, and
12 No. 24-3293

trustworthiness of videos); United States v. Rosado-Perez, 605
F.3d 48, 55 (1st Cir. 2010) (noting that expert testimony may
help explain how video evidence fits into the conspiracy). Tri-
als also create an opportunity for a party to present expert ev-
idence about various biases inherent in video evidence itself.
See, e.g., Nora G. McNeil, Perceptual and Cognitive Biases in the
Uptake of Police Body-Worn Camera Footage: Implications and
Suggestions for Introduction of Video Evidence at Trial, 41 Quin-
nipiac L. Rev. 499, 504–538 (2023) (compiling research on var-
ious forms of perceptual and cognitive biases in police camera
evidence).“Video can resolve a genuine dispute at summary
judgment only if it offers ‘irrefutable evidence’ that ‘utterly
discredit[s]’ countervailing factual assertions.” Pam v. City of
Evansville, 154 F.4th 523, 529 (7th Cir. 2025) (citing Gant, 924
F.3d at 450). This case, however, appears to fall into that nar-
row exception to the notion that video depictions of excessive
force generally leave matters for jury interpretation.
C. Video evidence in the receiving cell.
As we noted above, to succeed on a claim of excessive
force under the Fourteenth Amendment, a pretrial detainee
must demonstrate “that the force purposely or knowingly
used against him was objectively unreasonable” based on the
particular facts and circumstances of the events. Kingsley, 576
U.S. at 397. In doing so, a court must “also account for the ‘le-
gitimate interests that stem from [the government’s] need to
manage the facility in which the individual is detained,’ ap-
propriately deferring to ‘policies and practices that in th[e]
judgment’ of jail officials ‘are needed to preserve internal or-
der and discipline and to maintain institutional security.’” Id.
(quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 540, 547 (1979)). In the
pretrial detainee context, the Kingsley Court suggested that
No. 24-3293 13

courts look at, among other things, “the relationship between
the need for the use of force and the amount of force used; the
extent of the plaintiff’s injury; any effort made by the officer
to temper or to limit the amount of force; the severity of the
security problem at issue; the threat reasonably perceived by
the officer; and whether the plaintiff was actively resisting.”
Kingsley, 576 U.S. at 397. In Graham, the Court suggested that
in considering the reasonableness of force under a Fourth
Amendment claim, a court might consider “the severity of the
crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat
to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is ac-
tively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”
Graham, 490 U.S. at 396. While weighing these factors, a court
must make allowances for the fact that officers must often
make split-second decisions in chaotic and rapidly-evolving
circumstances, and do not have the benefit of hindsight that a
court has upon later review. Id. at 397.
Bearing these factors in mind, we look to the events that
occurred in the receiving cell that night. We begin with Rad-
dant’s account before moving to the video evidence. Accord-
ing to Raddant, he was not resisting “or was, at most, pas-
sively resisting.” Raddant Brief at 13; see also R. 68 at 1. Rad-
dant argues that Libby made the decision to have the other
officers take Raddant to the ground in the cell but his citations
to the record do not offer any support for that claim. Raddant
next asserts that Clarke lifted Raddant’s right ankle to desta-
bilize him, causing him to fall forward onto his face while Lar-
son intentionally kicked the mattress out from under Raddant
so that Raddant’s head would make direct contact with the
unpadded concrete. According to Raddant, the video depicts
his knees bending rather than locking as he leans forward
over the bunk—indicating that he is not pushing back against
14 No. 24-3293

the officers. Raddant argues that a reasonable jury could in-
terpret the video to show that Raddant was not actively re-
sisting but rather struggling to keep his balance as four offic-
ers were pushing him onto a concrete bunk with a slippery
mattress. Raddant argues, in the alternative, that even if he
were passively resisting, the officers used more force than
necessary to secure a passively resisting arrestee. As Raddant
argues, because he was “[n]ot resisting, or at most, passively
resisting, while handcuffed, in a secure location, and sur-
rounded by at least five officers, clearly established law shows
that it was objectively unreasonable for the officers to push
him forward by lifting his ankle to make him fall face first
onto a concrete bunk.” Raddant Brief at 16.
But the video does not leave any viable material issues for
a jury to consider. What we see is not the use of excessive
force, but an unfortunate accident at best, or clumsiness, at
worst. Could all of this have been avoided by lowering Rad-
dant’s agitation rather than ramping it up by engaging with
his cacophonic complaints? Possibly. But excessive force cases
are not opportunities for courts to opine on judges’ interpre-
tations of what police officers might have done better or dif-
ferently. Our only role is to assess whether the force pur-
posely or knowingly used against Raddant was objectively
unreasonable from the standpoint of a reasonable officer’s
best assessment of the situation at hand. Kingsley, 576 U.S. at
397.
The video taken from the receiving cell begins with the of-
ficers trying to round the corner from the short hallway be-
tween the booking desk and the receiving room. In the video,
the officers are clearly having trouble maneuvering Raddant
into the room. This is, in part, because he has extended one
No. 24-3293 15

foot in front of him as a brake. R. 51-2 at 00:01. He resists being
turned into the room and the officers struggle to maneuver
him despite the fact that Johnston is holding him by his right
arm and Larson is holding him by his left arm. (Larson has to
step back as they reach the door as all three men will not fit
through the doorway together.) As they arrive at the thresh-
old of the room, the officers are walking behind Raddant and
pushing on his back to move him forward. Immediately upon
entering the receiving cell, Raddant places his right foot on
the bed/slab. R. 51-2 at 00:06. He then steps up with his left leg
so that he is standing on the slab. At this point Johnston
reaches over to flip the mattress, which is propped up against
the wall, onto the slab. R. 51-2 at 00:07. Because Raddant’s feet
are already on the slab, as the mattress comes down, Raddant
has to lift his feet to put them on top of the mattress, rather
than have them underneath. To do so, he takes a large ex-
tended step forward with his left foot—almost approaching a
split position—one that, as it turns out, is quite unstable. R.
51-2 at 00:09. As he begins to put his right knee down, the
force of his left foot begins to push the mattress under and
then behind him. R. 51-2 at 00:11. Although it is not entirely
clear when Clarke grabs Raddant’s leg, by thirteen seconds
into the video, Clarke is holding Raddant’s right leg, his left
leg is slipping backwards toward him and he is, consequently,
falling forward. As he begins to tumble, the force of his body
moving forward causes his legs to push the mattress entirely
off of the slab. R. 51-2 at 00:12-00:13. As the mattress slips
backward toward Larson, the weight of Raddant’s body fall-
ing pulls Larson forward and onto the mattress. R. 51-2 at
00:14. Raddant argues that Larson kicked the mattress out
from under him, but the only evidence he has to support that
contention is the same video that the district court viewed.
16 No. 24-3293

The district court found that the video left no room for a jury
to conclude that Larson kicked the mattress out from under
Raddant. And because Larson was behind Raddant, Raddant
could not have any personal knowledge of Larson’s actions.
We agree with the district court’s assessment of the video dur-
ing these seconds.
Raddant raises several legitimate points based on the Gra-
ham and Kinglsey factors that suggest that the situation did not
call for a strong show of force. Raddant was in a relatively safe
place—a police station. He was not standing by the side of a
road or surrounded by an agitated crowd. He was secured
with handcuffs and encircled by five officers, and thus posed
a small, but non-negligible immediate risk to officers. But see,
e.g., United States v. Burke, 425 F.3d 400, 406 (7th Cir. 2005) (re-
counting episode where pretrial detainee being transported
within a federal courthouse used a secreted handcuff key to
escape and subsequently kill a U.S. Marshal and a court secu-
rity officer). The crime for which Raddant had been arrested
was fairly minor—a violation of his conditions of release. On
the other hand, the video does clearly show him resisting as
he enters the receiving cell. And ironically, it may have been
his own desperate calls to have his handcuffs removed from
his infected wrists that increased the urgency to complete the
search and move him to the receiving cell. Prisoners who have
not been searched pose risks both to officers and themselves.
See id.; see also Del Raine v. Williford, 32 F.3d 1024, 1042 (7th Cir.
1994) (discussing the guile with which prisoners have se-
creted dangerous objects and contraband). Because Raddant
was handcuffed and seemingly intoxicated, leaving him alone
would have also risked injury. See, e.g., Gupta v. Melloh, 19
F.4th 990, 999 (7th Cir. 2021). And once again, courts are not
in the position to evaluate whether police officers and jail
No. 24-3293 17

guards make the best choices about de-escalation, timing, and
moving prisoners. Our only role is to evaluate whether they
violate the Constitution by using excessive force. The situa-
tion did not call for a strong use of force, but the video con-
firms that the use of force was also not large. And even if Rad-
dant was merely trying to maintain his balance rather than
resisting, as he claims, the officers reasonably interpreted his
actions as resisting. The calculus of reasonableness must em-
body allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced
to make decisions about how much force to use with little
time to reflect and often without the full knowledge that a
birds-eye view from video might provide. See Graham, 490
U.S. at 396–97. Sometimes it will be clear only in hindsight
that they miscalculated. The video confirms that the officers’
use of some amount of force to corral an uncooperative (or
unbalanced) prisoner led to an unfortunate accident and in-
jury. And although upon reflection or with more time for
planning they might have made choices that would have
avoided injury, that is not the standard we apply.
It is true that the video is a bit grainy—especially com-
pared to the high-definition video to which we have grown
accustomed of late. But the acts are nonetheless sufficiently
clear. This is not a situation such as we encountered in Gupta,
where the audio-less video showed only the top of the ar-
restee’s head for most of the time. Gupta, 19 F.4th at 998. Nor
is it like Kailin in which the officer’s bodycam did not catch
any audio or video of the dog that the officer alleged was at-
tacking him. Kailin, 77 F.4th at 482. Here we can see the full
action in the receiving cell and the video leaves nothing for a
jury to decide—Raddant resisted or the officers reasonably in-
terpreted his actions as resistance. And in the course of coun-
tering that resistance and moving him onto the bunk, Raddant
18 No. 24-3293

slid as the slippery mattress pushed out from under him,
causing his fall. The officers certainly did not do all they could
have to de-escalate Raddant’s agitation, but their force was
not excessive in light of the circumstances known to them.
That takes us to Raddant’s single page argument that “The
Bodycam Video does show Raddant being pulled backwards
away from the booking counter, which was a continuation of
the excessive force.” Raddant Brief at 20; see also Reply Brief
at 3–4. Raddant’s statement of issues and summary of argu-
ment in his briefs informs the court that he appeals only the
district court’s conclusions about the video evidence regard-
ing the events occurring in the receiving cell. Despite this,
Raddant’s two paragraph argument appears to assert that the
court erred when it granted summary judgment based on
events that occurred at the booking desk before the officers
led him down the hallway. Raddant states that the officers’
act of pulling Raddant backward from the booking counter
“was a continuation of the officers refusing to adjust Rad-
dant’s handcuffs and manipulating his arms despite his re-
peated complaints about the extreme pain he was experienc-
ing.” Raddant Brief at 20. Although the argument is not en-
tirely clear, it seems that Raddant is arguing that the district
court should have sent this separate issue to the jury—that is,
whether the officers used excessive force while turning Rad-
dant around at the booking counter, as opposed to in the hall-
way or the receiving cell. Raddant failed to identify this in his
statement of issues or summary of argument. We might for-
give this procedural gaffe but for the fact that the argument
itself is so cursory and unclear and does not appear to have
been raised before the district court. All of it, we must there-
fore surmise, amounts to waiver.
No. 24-3293 19

But even if the argument has not been waived, we can de-
termine from watching all three relevant videos in slow mo-
tion that no reasonable juror could conclude that the officers
used excessive force while turning Raddant around from the
booking desk before walking him down the hall. R. 129-B, ex.
24 at 7:55-7:58; R. 129-B, ex. 23 at 7:51-7:54; R. 57-1 at 44:45-
44:48. Raddant was not cooperating with the officers and the
officers needed to move him to a cell to complete their search.
The three videos from three different angles show the three
seconds in which the officers are turning Raddant around and
removing him from the booking area. From those we can see
that Libby is holding Raddant by the upper arm and Larson
is holding Raddant by the forearm. Id. Neither officer is grab-
bing Raddant by the wrist or handcuffs. Id. Just as Libby yells
“Go,” Johnston puts his hand on Raddant’s shoulder and
starts to pull him back and turn him around. R. 57-1 at 44:44-
46. It is clear that most of the force of the turn comes from
Johnston’s grasp on Raddant’s shoulder. Id. In fact, Libby lets
go of Raddant’s arm almost immediately. R. 129-B, ex. 24 at
7:56. We see only very minor force used to turn Raddant
around. In sum, there are no material fact disputes about ex-
cessive force that warrant trial.
D. Exclusion of the expert witnesses.
Prior to the limited trial, the district court granted defend-
ants Libby and Larson’s motion in limine to exclude testi-
mony from all five of Raddant’s expert witnesses. Through
those witnesses, Raddant sought first to demonstrate that the
actions of the officers at the jail caused certain injuries to his
wrists and shoulders, and second, to catalogue the extent of
those injuries. The issue at trial was limited to questions of
liability on the part of Larson and Libby for refusing to adjust
20 No. 24-3293

Raddant’s handcuffs after he was arrested, Larson’s liability
for twisting Raddant’s arm while he was in handcuffs, and
Libby’s liability for failing to intervene. Raddant does not
challenge the jury’s verdict on appeal, however, and therefore
the issue of whether the district court abused its discretion
when it excluded his expert evidence from the trial is moot.
There are no remaining appellate issues regarding liability or
damages for the acts Larson and Libby took in refusing to
loosen Raddant’s handcuffs or twisting his arm and therefore
there are no remaining appealable issues regarding the expert
testimony. See, e.g., Murray v. Chicago Transit Auth., 252 F.3d
880, 890 (7th Cir. 2001).
Because the district court properly granted summary
judgment on the reasonableness of the use of force and any
questions about the exclusion of expert testimony are moot,
we AFFIRM the district court opinion on all ma ers.