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S.D.Cal.: Fourth Amendment does not apply to police shooting without apprehension

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Fourth Amendment does not apply to a shooting where the person shot by a Border Patrol officer fled into Mexico and died. He was never apprehended by officers. Rodriguez v. United States, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9177 (S.D. Cal. February 3, 2010): Here, after being shot, Rodriguez ran across the border to Mexico. Once in Mexico, he was transported to a Red Cross Hospital in Tijuana, where he later died. Thus, there is no dispute that the Rodriguez was never apprehended or in the custody of Defendant Campos or any other U.S. law enforcement officer. Based on these undisputed facts, Defendant Campos did not search or seize Rodriguez, and the Fourth Amendment is not implicated. To rule otherwise would mean that the Fourth Amendment applies whenever someone is shot by federal law enforcement...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 06, 2010 (boomark / email).