In Ventura v. Rutledge, published October 22, 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment granted to a police officer in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 case. In 2015, the mother of the decedent's children called 911 and reported that the decedent had hit her and the decedent's mother. The call was classified as a violent domestic disturbance. As the defendant officer was interviewing the reporting party, the decedent began walking up the sidewalk toward the party's home. The reporting party told the officer, "That's him." She moved behind trash cans. The officer issued several orders to "stop." The decedent continued approaching, and drew a knife. The decedent said, "Is this what you wanted?" He continued to approach. The officer shouted, "Stop or I'll shoot." The decedent did not stop. The officer shot and killed the decedent. The decedent was within 10-15 feet of the reporting party when the officer fired. The district court ruled that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity.
The 9th Circuit agreed. The court resolved the qualified immunity issue on the second prong of the immunity: whether the officer's use of force violated clearly-established law. As of 2015, the court determined, the law had not clearly established that using deadly force against a suspect who was advancing with a knife toward the woman he had reportedly just assaulted, and who ignored an officer's repeated commands to stop, amounted to constitutionally excessive force.
Leave a Reply