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N.D.Ga.: Use of some force to remove a recalcitrant motorist from car not unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer’s use of slight force to get defendant out of the car when defendant refused did not make the action unreasonable. United States v. Jefferson, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105629 (N.D. Ga. October 4, 2010)*: Police officers are authorized to use reasonable force to remove a person from a car in the face of even mild resistance by a driver. See United States v. Bradley, 2009 WL 4281260, at *3 n.5 (S.D. Ga. Nov. 5, 2009), adopted at 2009 WL 4348951, at *1 (N.D. Ga. Nov. 30, 2009) (police officer was “entitled to employ reasonable force to remove defendant from the vehicle” once defendant failed to comply with the officer’s lawful order that defendant exit the vehicle); United States v. Rookard, 2007 WL 2176895, at *6 (W...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 09, 2010 (boomark / email).