A lawsuit against a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed teenager is moving toward trial after an appellate court rejected the deputy’s qualified immunity defense.
Qualified immunity protects police officers from litigation when their actions did not violate a clearly established constitutional right, noted the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In its decision Wednesday, the appellate court affirmed a lower court in finding that a reasonable jury could determine Sheriff’s Deputy William Goldstein shot Michael Camberdella when the 18-year-old was not resisting or fleeing and did not pose a risk of harm.
