Calliste v. Lor

In 2018, Officer Xeng Lor shot our client, Xyavier Calliste, twice through the driver’s side door of his car as Mr. Calliste was leaving a parking garage at the Charlotte airport. Recognizing that Lor faced no imminent threat that would justify deadly force, the district court denied Lor summary judgment and qualified immunity. MacArthur Justice Center co-counseled with civil rights attorney Micheal Littlejohn Jr. to represent Mr. Calliste on appeal and ensure that he can go to trial to vindicate his Fourth Amendment rights.

In 2018, Officer Xeng Lor shot Xyavier Calliste multiple times through the driver’s side door of Mr. Calliste’s car. Lor was investigating a potential non-violent trespass into an airport parking garage. As he later admitted, he had no reason to believe that any violent crime had occurred or would occur. At the exit to the garage, Lor got out on foot and stopped a different car at the end of the exit lane. Mr. Calliste pulled up behind the car and attempted to pass it on the right, driving slowly onto the curb to avoid hitting anyone. As Mr. Calliste passed the stopped car, Lor stepped out of the way. He saw the front bumper of Mr. Calliste’s car go by. But despite being alongside Mr. Calliste’s car and out of the car’s trajectory, Lor fired two bullets through the driver’s side door, hitting Mr. Calliste in the hand and chest. Luckily, Mr. Calliste survived and was able to make it to a nearby hospital.

As the district court recognized, a reasonable jury could find that, by shooting Mr. Calliste while Lor was standing safely out of the car’s trajectory, Lor violated the Fourth Amendment. In doing so, the district court relied on well-established Fourth Circuit precedent, which made clear that deadly force is unlawful in precisely these circumstances. Accordingly, the district court denied Lor summary judgment and qualified immunity.

Lor attempted to appeal the district court’s decision in order to challenge the district court’s construction of the facts, contrary to the basic limits on appellate jurisdiction. In response, the MacArthur Justice Center co-counseled with Mr. Calliste’s counsel Micheal Littlejohn Jr. to represent Mr. Calliste on appeal.

Less than two months after hearing oral argument, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Mr. Calliste and dismissed Lor’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. As the Fourth Circuit recognized, rather than mounting a legal challenge, Lor simply attempted to litigate disputed issues of fact on appeal. Those issues must be resolved by a jury, as the district court properly held.

The Fourth Circuit also denied Lor’s petition for rehearing, without calling for a response.

MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to hold police officers accountable for unjustified uses of deadly force and ensure that civil rights lawyers like Mr. Littlejohn can bring meritorious claims to trial.

Oral argument audio available here: ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/23-2158-20250506.mp3