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CA9: It was objectively reasonable for officer to shoot driver he thought ran over another officer and was driving recklessly around them

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The use of deadly force was objectively reasonable here as a matter of law under the Fourth Amendment. Plaintiff’s decedent was shot by an officer in an attempt to arrest after a PIT maneuver when one officer thought that another had been run over and decedent was still driving recklessly at them. The dissent believed there were still issues for trial. Wilkinson v. Torres, 09-35098 (9th Cir. July 6, 2010) (2-1): Here, Torres did not violate a constitutional right [in shooting plaintiff’s decedent]. Even construing the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, a reasonable officer in Torres’ position had probable cause to believe that Wilkinson posed an immediate threat to the safety of Key and himself. When he fired the shots, Torres was standing in a slippery yard with a minivan accelerating around him...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 07, 2010 (boomark / email).