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The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up an appeal claiming an Edmond police officer could be held liable for violating the constitutional rights of an unarmed teenager he shot and killed in 2019.

Without comment, the justices let stand the ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the officer, Denton Scherman, was protected by the doctrine of qualified immunity in the case brought by the family of Isaiah Lewis.

Officer Scherman is pleased with the decision to deny certiorari, but because the lawsuit is still pending believes it is inappropriate to comment further, said Kathryn D. Terry, the Oklahoma City attorney representing Scherman.

The attorney for the Lewis family did not respond to a request for comment.

More:Supreme Court asked to review case of Edmond police officer who killed unarmed teen

The denial of Lewis petition on Monday marked the second time in its last two terms that the high court has upheld the doctrine of qualified immunity for Oklahoma law enforcement officers who killed a suspect during a confrontation.

Last year, the justices overturned a 10th Circuit ruling that two Tahlequah police officers could be held liable for killing a man who was wielding a hammer at his ex-wifes home.

In that case, the justices said, The doctrine of qualified immunity shields officers from civil liability so long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.

As we have explained, qualified immunity protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.

Scherman killed Lewis during an encounter with Edmond police that began with a 911 caller mistakenly claiming that the 17-year-old had assaulted his girlfriend. Scherman and another officer, Milo Box, followed Lewis into a house, where Lewis and Box had a physical fight. Lewis then approached Scherman, who shot the teen four times, killing him, according to court documents.

Lewis parents filed a lawsuit claiming Scherman used unconstitutional excessive force, and a U.S. district judge in Oklahoma City ruled that a reasonable jury could find that deadly force was not justified and that Lewis no longer presented a threat after the first bullet hit him.

The 10th Circuit reversed the judges ruling, saying it ran counter to the U.S. Supreme Courts oft-repeated principle that an officer was protected by qualified immunity unless he or she knew beforehand about a case with very similar circumstances in which force was found to be unconstitutionally excessive.

Neither the district court nor Plaintiffs (Lewis parents) have identified a precedent finding a Fourth Amendment violation under the circumstances Defendant Scherman faced in this case, the 10th Circuit court said last year.

A look back at the case:Parents of teen shot by Edmond police file lawsuit against city, officers

None of the cases they identify provided fair notice to Defendant Scherman that his repeated use of lethal force was unconstitutional when Lewis approached Scherman in a small hallway in the house moving his arms in a windmill motion after Scherman had observed Lewis pummeling Box until Box disappeared from Schermans line of sight.

The attorney for Lewis parents had urged the Supreme Court to review the 10th Circuit court ruling, calling the appeals courts approach mistaken.

To be sure, this Court has instructed courts to frame the right in light of the specific context of the case, but that does not mean that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, the attorney argued.

The case ultimately will be returned to the district court, which must rule in accordance with the 10th Circuit courts decision.

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Supreme Court declines to hear case of Isaiah Lewis killed in Edmond - Oklahoman.com