Odell v. Ford County Sheriff's Department

── Odell v. Ford County Sheriff's Department ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-3104 Document: 11-1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 15, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court GRATTON CURTIS ODELL, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-3104 (D.C. No. 5:25-CV-03008-JWL) FORD COUNTY SHERIFF’S (D. Kan.) DEPARTMENT; BRYAN STAMMER; MATTHEW BOLMER; STEPHEN M. LIGON, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, McHUGH, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Gratton Curtis Odell, a Kansas prisoner proceeding pro se, brought this civil rights action against the Ford County (Kansas) Sheriff’s Department and three of its deputies. Mr. Odell accuses the deputies of using excessive force when they arrested him. The district court dismissed his complaint at the screening phase. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined * unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-3104 Document: 11-1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 2 I. BACKGROUND & PROCEDURAL HISTORY Mr. Odell filed his pro se complaint on January 14, 2025. He alleged that, on January 28, 2023, he was walking to work when a Ford County sheriff’s deputy stopped him based on a domestic violence complaint made by his girlfriend earlier that morning. Soon, four more deputies arrived and began questioning him. Mr. Odell eventually explained that he had shoved his girlfriend and broken her phone. The deputies then told him he was under arrest. Mr. Odell countered they should talk to his girlfriend again, prompting the deputies to “man handle” him and take him to the ground. R. at 12. And three of them—defendants Bryan Stammer, Matthew Bolmer, and Stephen Ligons—began using their tasers on Mr. Odell. Collectively, he alleged, they tased him twenty-three times. Mr. Odell further alleged the deputies took him to jail, where he showed his taser burns to a fellow inmate. He then bonded out of jail and went to the hospital. Hospital employees counted forty-eight taser burns and told him they would be willing to testify on his behalf. Mr. Odell, however, counted only forty-six closely spaced burns—which is apparently how he concluded he had been tased twenty-three times, i.e., each closely spaced pair of burns representing one taser strike. He took pictures of these burns. Mr. Odell asserted the number of taser strikes he received amounted to excessive force. This was especially so, he argued, considering there were five deputies on the scene. He therefore invoked 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and requested compensatory damages. 2