posse comatosis
Hoo-ahh!
Scott v. Edinburg, 346 F.3d 752 (7th Cir. 2003)
A police officer was off-duty and driving his personal car, a red convertible. The officer learned that an individual had entered his car and was trying to steal it. The officer ran back to the car and stopped near the rear bumper. The car backed up toward him, so that the officer was forced to run backward to avoid being hit. As the vehicle backed up, the officer yelled “stop, police” and drew his revolver. The car stopped backing up and began to drive forward. The officer fired a shot. The car sped off. There were between twelve and fourteen patrons in the gas station parking lot.
While the car was still in the parking lot, the officer fired a second shot. The vehicle then exited the parking lot. The officer followed on foot and fired at least six more shots. Shortly thereafter, the suspect died, and the car crashed. It is not clear which gunshot killed the suspect but the fatal shot was one of the first few shots fired. The family filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging a Fourth Amendment violation.
On appeal, the court held that the district court’s grant of summary judgment was proper. An automobile may be used as a deadly weapon. There is a genuine issue of material fact as to the timing of the first shot, which precludes a grant of summary judgment based on Garner’s justification for self-defense. The officer knew that the suspect already had committed a forcible felony and had attempted to run him down in order to escape or at least had acted recklessly with respect to that possibility. Moreover, the officer knew that the suspect was escaping at a high rate of speed through a parking lot with twelve to fourteen bystanders and demonstrating little concern for anyone’s safety. Deadly force may be exercised if the suspect’s actions place the officer, his partner, or those in the immediate vicinity in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Therefore, it was objectively reasonable for the officer to perceive that the bystanders in the gas station parking lot were at risk of injury from the suspect. http://www.aele.org/zigmund2004.html
A police officer was off-duty and driving his personal car, a red convertible. The officer learned that an individual had entered his car and was trying to steal it. The officer ran back to the car and stopped near the rear bumper. The car backed up toward him, so that the officer was forced to run backward to avoid being hit. As the vehicle backed up, the officer yelled “stop, police” and drew his revolver. The car stopped backing up and began to drive forward. The officer fired a shot. The car sped off. There were between twelve and fourteen patrons in the gas station parking lot.
While the car was still in the parking lot, the officer fired a second shot. The vehicle then exited the parking lot. The officer followed on foot and fired at least six more shots. Shortly thereafter, the suspect died, and the car crashed. It is not clear which gunshot killed the suspect but the fatal shot was one of the first few shots fired. The family filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging a Fourth Amendment violation.
On appeal, the court held that the district court’s grant of summary judgment was proper. An automobile may be used as a deadly weapon. There is a genuine issue of material fact as to the timing of the first shot, which precludes a grant of summary judgment based on Garner’s justification for self-defense. The officer knew that the suspect already had committed a forcible felony and had attempted to run him down in order to escape or at least had acted recklessly with respect to that possibility. Moreover, the officer knew that the suspect was escaping at a high rate of speed through a parking lot with twelve to fourteen bystanders and demonstrating little concern for anyone’s safety. Deadly force may be exercised if the suspect’s actions place the officer, his partner, or those in the immediate vicinity in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Therefore, it was objectively reasonable for the officer to perceive that the bystanders in the gas station parking lot were at risk of injury from the suspect. http://www.aele.org/zigmund2004.html
