Following a traffic stop, Plaintiff Emily Sizemore was arrested and tased several times by a City of Montgomery police officer. Sizemore asserted claims for excessive force, assault and battery, and negligence against the arresting police officer Richard Dorman.
Defendant Dorman filed a motion seeking to exclude Sizemore’s proposed expert witness, Nathaniel Allen.
Law Enforcement Expert Witness
Nathaniel Allen is a retired police chief with 36 years of law enforcement experience.
Discussion by the Court
Allen sought to testify about whether Dorman used excessive force during his arrest of Sizemore. Whether the force that an officer used was excessive is a pure question of law. Accordingly, Allen’s opinion about whether Dorman used excessive force is not a matter subject to expert testimony.
The Court provisionally denied Dorman’s motion in all other respects until it hears Allen’s proposed testimony outside the presence of the jury.
Held
The Court granted in part and denied in part Defendant Richard Dorman’s motion to exclude the testimony of Plaintiff Sizemore’s expert Nathaniel Allen.
Key Takeaway
In an excessive force case a qualified expert can testify about matters like the prevailing standards in the field of law enforcement, but not about whether an officer used excessive force.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Sizemore V. City of Montgomery |
| Docket Number: | 2:23cv198 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Alabama Middle |
| Order Date: | March 27, 2026 |
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