Ninth Circuit Revives Claims Against LA Cop Who Shot High Schooler Over Friend's Plastic Gun
The Ninth Circuit found that the officer's qualified immunity applied to the shots fired into the group of high school boys, but not to rights that were infringed after the shooting as they were held for five hours.
August 21, 2019 at 07:33 PM
5 minute read
A Los Angeles Police Department officer who mistook an airsoft gun for a lethal weapon and shot into a group of teenagers will have to face Fourth Amendment claims, a federal appellate court has ruled.
A panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part a district court's denial of qualified immunity to LAPD officer Miguel Gutierrez, who fired into the high school boys, setting off a chain of events that led to their unwarranted detention for five hours. The judges decided that the officer's qualified immunity applied to the shots fired, remanding the case to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, but the defense did not apply to rights that were infringed after the shooting.
"We agree with the district court that under these circumstances, Plaintiffs' continued detention for five hours—well after any probable cause would have dissipated—and the use of handcuffs throughout the duration of the detention violated Plaintiffs' clearly established Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unlawful arrest and excessive force," wrote Judge Jacqueline Nguyen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, joined on the panel by Judges Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and R. Guy Cole Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3The 'Biden Effect' on Senior Attorneys: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5First Lawsuit Filed Alleging Contraceptive Depo-Provera Caused Brain Tumor
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250