A man arrested during an early morning methamphetamine search at a rural Wisconsin property in 2018 may continue his battle against a police officer he says deliberately hit him in the head with a rifle, using excessive force, a Seventh Circuit panel has said in a reversal.

In a unanimous opinion issued Tuesday, a three-judge panel said that while there was enough evidence to grant qualified immunity to one police officer who arrested Ryan Steinhoff, further information was needed regarding what happened between Steinhoff and Clark County Drug Investigator Matthew Malovrh.

According to Steinhoff, Malovrh intentionally hit him in the head with a rifle as police began to take him down and arrest him, the panel explained. While there is footage of Steinhoff's arrest, it took place "under the cover of darkness," and the footage is too grainy to make out exactly what happened, according to the panel.

Steinhoff claims he was cooperating with officers, but officers claimed he tried to flee, the panel said, noting that whatever the truth was, Steinhoff seen being tackled on camera about three seconds after he left the camper he was found in.

"At some point during the encounter, a rifle barrel struck Steinhoff's ear, causing a cut that required at least nine stitches," the panel said, noting that there was an audible "clink" sound in the video, which Steinhoff claimed was his injury.

Malovrh denied hitting Steinhoff and said if he had injured the man it was unintentional during a scuffle, according to the panel.

"To our eye, Steinhoff's primary contention is that Investigator Malovrh intentionally hit him in the head with his rifle as Detective [Cody] Kowalczyk tackled him. But describing an argument is different from knowing what happened. And that is the circumstance we find ourselves in here," the panel said.

The court explained that Steinhoff didn't know for sure who hit him and that there was nothing concrete to be found on the video of the arrest.

"While Investigator Malovrh claims he joined in once Steinhoff was on the ground, Detective Kowalczyk testified that Investigator Malovrh assisted from the start," the panel said, pointing to another disputed fact.

"We cannot reach any conclusions on qualified immunity without knowing the material facts. But there is enough circumstantial evidence of an intentional use of excessive force to send this question to trial," the panel said.

According to the court, a jury could come to believe Malovrh hit Steinhoff while he was standing up, as Steinhoff argues, even though Malovrh claimed he only got physically involved once Steinhoff was on the ground.

"The audible 'clink' in the video could corroborate that the rifle made contact while he was standing," the panel said, noting that if the gun hit Steinhoff while he was standing, "and with enough force to inflict a deep cut," that could further indicate "that the blow may have been intentional."

Additionally, after Steinhoff was arrested, he complained, saying "my ear's split with that gun you hit me with" and somebody responded: "[w]ell, don't take off — try to take off when we're giving you orders," the court said.

It's not clear who made that statement, but a jury might find that this "implicitly acknowledged that Investigator Malovrh hit Steinhoff intentionally," the panel said.

After they arrested him, Steinhoff sued Kowalczyk, Malovrh and Capt. Charles Ramberg for using excessive force on him in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the court explained.

The district court granted summary judgment to Ramberg because Steinhoff agreed he did not use excessive force.

In addition to the rifle hit, Malovrh was accused of using excessive force by kneeling on Steinhoff, but a jury eventually freed him from that claim, according to the court, which said that claim was not on appeal.

Kowalczyk was absolved by the district court of using excessive force because even if Steinhoff didn't flee, "a jury would 'almost certainly' find that 'an objective officer's use of force in taking Steinhoff to the ground and subdu[ing] him was not unreasonable,' given the 'murky dynamics' of an early morning drug raid," the panel summarized.

The appeals court affirmed the district court's findings regarding Kowalczyk.

Representatives for Steinhoff declined to comment on the case, and representatives for the officers did not immediately respond to requests for comments Wednesday.

U.S. Circuit Judges Frank H. Easterbrook, Michael Y. Scudder Jr. and Amy J. St. Eve sat on the panel for the Seventh Circuit.

Ryan Steinhoff is represented by Sopen B. Shah and Karl J. Worsham of Perkins Coie LLP.

The defendants are represented by Samuel C. Hall Jr. and Sara Catherine Mills of Crivello Nichols & Hall SC.

The case is Ryan Steinhoff v. Matthew Malovrh et al., case number 24-1252, in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

--Editing by Rich Mills.