Officer Detail: Gordon J. Painter

Assignment History

Descriptions

• Mar 21, 2024
  

  Unpublished Opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit --- Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond (Kenneth Wilson v Gordon J. Painter)

  Decided: December 9, 2021

  "Kenneth Wilson filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 amended complaint against Gordon J. Painter asserting, inter alia, excessive force during a traffic stop and state law claims of assault and battery.

  Wilson alleged that Painter, a Chesterfield County police officer, struck Wilson in the face and pulled him from his vehicle after Painter stopped him for a defective headlight. Specifically, Wilson asserted that Painter blocked Wilson’s exit from the vehicle, gave Wilson just 15 seconds to comply with his commands to exit the vehicle, and punched Wilson in the face despite Wilson’s compliant and nonthreatening behavior.Painter moved to dismiss Wilson’s amended complaint, arguing that he was entitled to qualified immunity because he did not violate Wilson’s constitutional rights and was not on notice that his use of force was unconstitutional. The district court denied Painter’s motion, concluding that “a reasonable officer would understand that striking a suspect in the face with a closed fist constitutes excessive force under the facts presented.” (J.A. 154).

  For the reasons that follow, we affirm.......Viewing the facts as the district court gave them to us, and in the light most favorable to Wilson, id., we agree with the district court’s conclusion that Wilson plausibly alleged that Painter 'acted in a way that, as a matter of law, violated [Wilson’s] clearly established . . . Fourth Amendment right to freedom from excessive force,” id. at 770; see Smith v. Ray, 781 F.3d 95, 104 (4th Cir. 2015) (denying qualified immunity 'based on the simple fact that the officer took a situation where there obviously was no need for the use of any significant force and yet took an unreasonably aggressive tack that quickly escalated it').

  We therefore affirm the district court’s order. Wilson v. Painter, No. 3:20-cv-00645-DJN (E.D. Va. Dec. 21, 2020)..."

  --David J. Novak, District Judge. (3:20-cv-00645-DJN)

Incidents

Lawsuits

• 3:20-cv-00645-DJN - Kenneth Wilson v. Gordon J. Painter
• 3:23-cv-00801-RCY - Byers v. City of Richmond / Steven M. Gibson / Gordon J. Painter / Chesterfield County Police Department

Links

• Chesterfield County Police on Facebook: "Help us congratulate our newest certified K9 team" Edit Delete
  Help us congratulate our newest certified K9 team: Career Officer Painter and Scout. They have recently graduated Narcotics Detector Dog School and are now a dual-purpose K9 team for Chesterfield; certified in both patrol and drug K9 disciplines. Congrats, guys! Welcome to the department, Scout! " - Facebook post by Chesterfield County Police (May 27, 2021)
• Chesterfield officer who fatally shot Charles Byers was sued for excessive force in 2020 Edit Delete
  Attorney Paul Curley alleged that Chesterfield police officer Gordon Painter violated Byers’ rights under the Fourth and 14th Amendments when he opened fire on Byers on July 8 in a Chesterfield neighborhood. Curley said that Chesterfield police were aware that Painter “had a propensity to use excessive force too quickly against citizens” based on prior incidents, and also accused Chesterfield authorities of conspiring to “cover up” the incident. - Samuel B. Parker, Richmond Times-Dispatch