As in many qualified-immunity cases, the parties have “two different
stories” about what happened. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378, 380 (2007).
McManemy claims that Deputy Dolleslager “sadistically” tased him in drive-stun
mode,2
once before handcuffing him and two-to-four times afterward. Deputy
Dolleslager says that he only tased him twice, once before placing the handcuffs on
his right wrist and once more to get them on his other wrist.
In an appeal from a summary-judgment ruling on qualified immunity, we
typically credit the plaintiff’s version of the facts. See id. at 378. I
n some cases,
however, the record so “blatantly contradict[s]” the plaintiff’s account that “no
reasonable jury could believe it.” ...
This is one of those cases. Many tasers have logs that record when and how
they are used. The log on Deputy Dolleslager’s device revealed that it had only
been discharged twice—each for three seconds, fifteen seconds apart. McManemy
has never challenged the log’s accuracy, so the record “blatantly contradicts” his
account that he was tased between three and five times.