The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Wednesday that the family of Jamal Ali Shaw, who died after being tased by police in jail while having a seizure, can sue the officers over Shaw’s death. The case is an appeal from the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The court ruled that, in viewing the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the officers’ actions “constituted excessive force in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights.” In her opinion for the court, Circuit Judge Leslie H. Southwick noted that a jury could decide that it should have been “obvious” to each officer that Shaw was in need of immediate medical treatment. Additionally, the court ruled that the Pasadena Police Department is not liable because there was “no substantial evidence” that their policies would lead to the violation of Shaw’s constitutional rights.

Shaw’s family sued and alleged that law enforcement violated the Constitution when they responded to his seizure by restraining him and tasing him several times. The family sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which allows people to sue government employees and officials for monetary damages if they violate a person’s federal constitutional rights. The district court dismissed their claims based on the doctrine of qualified immunity, which protects state and local officials, including law enforcement officers, from individual liability unless the official violated a clearly established constitutional right.

The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling on the 1983 claim, noting that “qualified immunity protects officers from suit unless their conduct violates a clearly established right.” However, the court held that a jury could find that the officers’ conduct violated Shaw’s clearly established constitutional rights.