The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave new life to a lawsuit alleging excessive force by two Coeur d'Alene police officers.

Shannon Kanda, of Coeur d'Alene, claimed officers used excessive force while arresting her in May 2009 for battery of an officer.

She was injured when the officers took her down to the ground on a stairwell landing, hitting her face against a metal handrail.

In July 2010, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled in a summary judgment that although a jury could conclude that excessive force was used to detain Kanda, it wasn't intentional.

Therefore, the officers acted in a lawful manner and were entitled to immunity from the lawsuit, the judge said at the time.

Kanda appealed Lodge's decision, and the 9th Circuit reversed him and sent the case back for further proceedings.

Ninth Circuit Judges A. Wallace Tashima and Johnnie B. Rawlinson said the force actually used by the two officers, taking Kanda down into a metal handrail, was very severe and resulted in serious injuries.

"A reasonable officer could not have believed that such force was proportionate under the circumstances," they wrote in the memorandum filed Friday.

Judge Susan P. Graber, in dissent, wrote, "Being drunk could have made her more dangerous, rather than less dangerous, to the officers. Our cases counsel against drawing so fine a line as police respond to an evolving situation."

Noting the dissent, Coeur d'Alene City Attorney Mike Gridley said the city will be requesting what is called an "en banc" review of the three-judge panel's decision. The 9th Circuit's en banc court consists of 11 judges.