A federal judge has green-lit an excessive force lawsuit for a jury trial, stemming from an Adams County deputy’s fatal shooting of a 19-year-old in 2017.

U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martínez determined it was unclear whether Kyler Grabbingbear posed an immediate threat to Deputy Wilfred Europe, and it would therefore be up to a jury to decide if Europe acted reasonably, as he claimed, or whether he violated Grabbingbear’s constitutional rights.

“There may be other interpretations that a jury could accept, some of which might entitle Europe to qualified immunity and others which would not,” wrote Martínez on Jan. 18. A five-day jury trial is set to begin on Nov. 28, 2022.

The district attorney for Adams County at the time, Dave Young, cleared Europe of criminal charges in the shooting after concluding the deputy believed it was necessary to use deadly force in self-defense. Europe has been the subject of other use-of-force inquiries during his tenure: prosecutors declined to charge Europe after he shot and killed a 40-year-old man in 2012 who appeared to be reaching for a gun, which turned out to be a pellet gun. Europe also shot a dog in 2011 and shot and killed another dog in 2013 after responding to the wrong address, CBS4 reported.

As alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit, Europe was speaking to a crime victim at an apartment complex just outside of Thornton on Dec. 7, 2017 when Grabbingbear emerged from a nearby unit. Europe had heard yelling inside and suspected possible domestic violence. Europe reportedly told Grabbingbear to stop his advance.

Instead, Grabbingbear allegedly hit the deputy with an end table he was carrying. Europe pursued Grabbingbear down a flight of stairs and grabbed his shirt, causing both men to lose their footing. The plaintiff, Andrea Feltman, who was Grabbingbear’s mother, disputed several aspects of the encounter. Feltman believed her son was trying to escape, while Europe maintained Grabbingbear was the aggressor.

The deputy alleged Grabbingbear put him in a sustained headlock, causing Europe to nearly lose consciousness and to see “his family flash before his eyes.” Once Europe was able to escape, he shot Grabbingbear for fear of being attacked again and possibly killed.

Feltman, on the other hand, pointed to statements from eyewitnesses who denied seeing Grabbingbear put Europe in a chokehold. 

Grbbingbear died from his gunshot wound. First responders noticed that Europe visibly appeared to have been in a struggle.

Europe asked Martínez to dismiss the excessive force lawsuit Feltman filed against him. He argued he was entitled to use deadly force for fear that Grabbingbear would kill him and a lesser degree of force would not stop the threat.

“The underlying incident could have ended with Grabbingbear obeying Europe’s command to stop when Grabbingbear suddenly emerged from the apartment where domestic violence was reasonably suspected to have occurred,” Europe’s attorneys wrote to the court. “Instead, Grabbingbear — the suspect of domestic violence and, after striking Europe with the table, second-degree assault on a peace officer — continually escalated the incident and tried to flee. Grabbingbear escalated the incident to the point he had Europe in a headlock and was on the verge of killing Europe.”

In contrast, Feltman countered that it was the deputy whose actions determined the outcome.

“Europe’s actions were unreasonable from the moment that he elected to pursue Grabbingbear until the moment Europe decided to shoot and kill an individual upon whom he had inflicted multiple injuries,” her lawyers argued.

Martínez, in declining to toss the lawsuit, found Europe was not entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that shields government employees from civil liability unless they violate a person’s clearly-established legal rights. In practice, that means a court must have previously found an officer acted unreasonably under very similar circumstances.

Martínez could not say whether Europe acted reasonably because it was unclear what had happened immediately prior to the shooting. Specifically, the judge found a jury could take eyewitness’ comments that Europe was “trying to grab the male who was trying to get away from the Deputy” and that Europe “punch[ed] the kid in the head at least 10 times” and find Europe was liable for excessive force.

“It is true that Europe and Plaintiffs vehemently dispute whether Grabbingbear posed an immediate threat to Europe’s life after Europe broke the chokehold,” Martínez wrote. “Under at least one view of the facts that a reasonable jury could adopt, Europe violated a clearly established right.”

The judge also allowed claims to proceed against Europe that Feltman brought under state law for assault and wrongful death. He did, however, dismiss the claim of negligent failure to provide medical assistance. 

The case is Feltman v. Europe.