---
title: "Law Enforcement Expert Not Allowed to Opine on Excessive Force"
meta:
  "og:description": "The law enforcement expert cannot testify about matters like whether an officer used excessive force"
  "og:title": "Law Enforcement Expert Not Allowed to Opine on Excessive Force"
  author: "Expert Witness Profiler"
  description: "The law enforcement expert cannot testify about matters like whether an officer used excessive force"
---

# Law Enforcement Expert Not Allowed to Opine on Excessive Force

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Expert Witness Profiler

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](https://expertwitnessprofiler.com/expert-witness/Nathaniel-Allen/1574421).

## **Law Enforcement Expert Witness**

[Nathaniel Allen](https://expertwitnessprofiler.com/expert-witness/Nathaniel-Allen/1574421) is a retired police chief with 36 years of law enforcement experience.

[Want to know more about the challenges Nathaniel Allen has faced? Get the full details with our Challenge Study report](https://expertwitnessprofiler.com/order/add?eId=1574421&pId=3).

## **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:**

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