9th Cir.
11-16401
The court of appeals affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court judgment and remanded the action for further proceedings. The court held that police officers were justified in entering a mentally ill person’s home initially under the emergency aid exception where they had an objectively reasonable basis to believe that she was in need of emergency medical assistance and they conducted their search or seizure in a reasonable manner to that point. The court held further that triable fact issues existed as to whether the officers’ second entry violated the Fourth Amendment where the officers, after retreating to safety, forced their way back into the home and provoked a near-fatal confrontation with the knife-wielding occupant. The court also held that, under the circumstances of the second police entry, there existed triable issue of fact whether the officers used excessive force by resorting to deadly force and shooting the occupant after they re-entered the home.
