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5th Circuit denies Rusk County deputy’s qualified immunity appeal in fatal 2022 shooting
KLTV ^ | August 6, 2026 | Meredith Billings

Posted on 08/12/2026 8:29:24 PM PDT by Trump20162020

A court has denied a former Rusk County deputy’s appeal after a district court denied his request for qualified immunity.

Timothy Michael Randall, 29, of Price, was shot and killed by Sgt. Shane Iverson of the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office during a traffic stop on Sept. 14, 2022, in Turnertown. Iverson was later no-billed by a Rusk County grand jury, meaning the grand jury chose not to indict him.

Rusk County attorney Lee Correa filed the motion for summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity in 2024. Qualified immunity protects government officials from liability for civil damages as long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.

Judge John D. Love, U.S. Magistrate for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler, denied the application of qualified immunity, stating that a reasonable juror could find that the use of deadly force was excessive as the crimes were minor, non-violent ones. He noted Randall’s resistance was not physical towards Iverson and that he was unarmed with his hands empty and open while Iverson shot him from a kneeling position as Randall was trying to run away. He said, “a reasonable juror could conclude that Defendant Iversen’s actions were objectively unreasonable.”

Iverson then submitted an appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court dismissed the appeal, echoing several of Love’s conclusions.

“When we resolve all genuine disputes of material fact in Randall’s favor, the following factual scenario is plausible: a police officer deployed deadly force against a visibly empty-handed DWI suspect who was fleeing from the officer, with his palms facing out around chest-level, whom no reasonable officer would infer was armed based on the pat-down, and who prior to the officer’s deployment of deadly force had non-violently resisted the officer’s rapidly-evolving commands,” the document states.

(Excerpt) Read more at kltv.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: shaneiverson

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1 posted on 08/12/2026 8:29:24 PM PDT by Trump20162020
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To: Trump20162020

5th Circuit: the Anti-9th.

The more I see of their rulings, the better I like them.


2 posted on 08/12/2026 11:29:14 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Mother Nature needs to give El Nino a good spanking!)
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To: Trump20162020

Put. The. Cop. In. PRISON!

.


3 posted on 08/12/2026 11:40:25 PM PDT by TLI (ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: Trump20162020

If qualified immunity goes away, so will many law officers.

Too many various types of incidents can happen and all of them are open to dubious, uncertain determinations by officials or judges or juries.

If the job doesn’t protect the officer, the officer may choose to find other work.


4 posted on 08/12/2026 11:43:07 PM PDT by citizen (All Bush-era RINOs have got to be primaried out.)
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To: citizen
Yes. We need to leave QI protections in place wholesale so officers are free to back shoot unarmed suspects like in the excerpt, or to arrest firemen providing life saving measures on the side of the road.

No one would want to be a cop if they can’t shoot unarmed suspects b/c someone made them mad, or if they can’t assert their ego and authority over lesser beings like firemen.

I mean, who could stand operating under such uncertainty that one may be held accountable for their actions? /s

5 posted on 08/13/2026 2:04:06 AM PDT by Repeat Offender ( )
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To: Trump20162020
Iverson was later no-billed by a Rusk County grand jury, meaning the grand jury chose not to indict him... Judge John D. Love, U.S. Magistrate for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler, denied the application of qualified immunity, stating that a reasonable juror could find that the use of deadly force was excessive...

But a 5th amendment jury already no-billed him. How many juries does it take for the judge to find his so-called "reasonable" juror?

-PJ

6 posted on 08/13/2026 2:11:16 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
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To: citizen

“If qualified immunity goes away, so will many law officers.”

I’m okay with that.

L


7 posted on 08/13/2026 2:27:51 AM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: Trump20162020

This cop straight up murdered this guy. There was zero reason for him to pull his weapon, let alone shoot. QI should not be a license to kill.


8 posted on 08/13/2026 3:21:51 AM PDT by Wright Wing
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