Suit by transgender woman’s family rejected

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Berkeley police did not use excessive force against Kayla Moore, a black transgender woman who died during a struggle with six officers in her apartment in 2013.

Police were called to the apartment on Allston Way late at night by Moore’s roommate, who said Moore, 41, had kicked him out of the residence, had been drinking and using drugs all day, and was schizophrenic and might need a mental health evaluation. Two officers arrived, said they found her incoherent and tried to handcuff her. They said that she resisted and it took six officers to subdue her.

Moore then stopped breathing and could not be revived. The Alameda County coroner’s office said the death was an accident, caused by acute drug intoxication, as well as “morbid obesity” — Moore weighed nearly 350 pounds — and cardiovascular disease.

A lawsuit by Moore’s family accused the police of illegally seizing her and using excessive force. Family members cited a private physician’s report that found pressure on Moore’s chest was a contributing factor in her death. The city’s Police Review Commission said one of the officers had not consistently monitored Moore’s vital signs. And the family claimed discrimination based on her gender identity.

But U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the suit in 2018, and the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld his ruling Thursday.

Officers were justified in entering the apartment and arresting Moore, the court said, based on her roommate’s report and his fears for his safety, and the anger she expressed after police arrived. And the court said the evidence showed that Moore, “a very large and strong person, resisted vigorously when (officers) tried to take her into custody.”

The officers testified that they used only the amount of force needed to restrain Moore, did not apply pressure to areas that might have restricted her breathing, and moved her into a recovery posi tion as soon as she stopped struggling, the court said. Such accounts must be scrutinized closely because the only other person present is no longer alive, the court said, but there was no evidence that contradicted their narrative or indicated that they were trying to harm Moore.

“We recognize how distressing it is for an effort to check on an individual’s welfare to end with the death of the person,” the threejudge panel said. “We also recognize that a large community continues to grieve Moore’s death.

“But whatever role (the officers) may have played in her death, we cannot say on the evidence before us that they acted unlawfully.”

John Burris, a lawyer for the family, said they would consider asking the full appeals court for a new hearing.

“The Berkeley community (is) very upset about what happened to Kayla,” Burris said. “We knew it was a challenging case. Whether deadly force was used was a factual question. We thought it was sufficient (evidence) to go before a jury.”