Legal Update

1st Circuit: Cell Phone Video Exam – United States v Rivera-Morales

Last week, we looked at a case out of the 8th Circuit talking about a case similar to the case we will discuss today. In United States v Suellentrop, the 8th Circuit allowed evidence to be submitted of pictures found on a cell phone after the pictures were found and provided to the police by a citizen. In Sullentrop, the 8th Circuit determined that the limitations on searching cell phones demanded by the Supreme Court in Riley v California did […]

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Use of Force Failure to Intervene – Eleventh Circuit

Today we head to the 11th Circuit which covers the states of Alabama, Georgia and Florida to talk about issues that are currently faced by police departments across the country. These issues include appropriate applications of force, Qualified Immunity and Bystander Liability, also known as the Failure to Intervene.  Before we look at the facts and the court decision in this case let me just make a

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Use of Force: Officer Involved Shooting – Goffin v. Ashcraft

Today’s article will discuss a case that focuses on an Officer-Involved-Shooting in Warren, Arkansas and deals with the shooting of a suspect who, unbeknownst to the officer, was not in possession of a handgun at the time he was shot.  Under these circumstances was the officer entitled to Qualified Immunity? As we navigate through this difficult time, I know that I am preaching to the

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Civil Use of Force – O’Brien v Town of Bellingham

For today’s article, we will look at a Civil case out of Massachusetts where the trial court and ultimately, the 1st Circuit, looked at the facts and circumstances involved in O’Brien’s arrest and subsequent booking and determined that the officers were entitled to Summary Judgment and dismissed the case.  Prior to filing this civil claim O’Brien pled guilty to a number of criminal charges including assault

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Circuit Court of Appeals – September 2020

First Circuit United States v. Del-Rosario-Acosta, 968 F.3d 123 (1st Cir. 2020)   Three Puerto Rico Police Department officers responded to a call from a gas station reporting an armed person on the premises.  When the officers arrived, they encountered a crowd of people.  After the officers ordered the crowd to disperse, they saw Rafael Del Rosario-Acosta (the defendant) walk to a nearby parked car.  The defendant got

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Deadly Force Pursuit & Qualified Immunity: Monzon v. City of Murrieta

As we navigate through this difficult time, we know that one of our basic liability protections, qualified immunity, is under siege on all fronts, at both the state and federal levels (for more on Qualified Immunity see Parts One, Two, and Three from our three part Qualified Immunity Series).  Interestingly, today’s case upholds the protections afforded by Qualified Immunity and comes from, of all places, the 9th Circuit!

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What Not to Do: UOF Training 101

There are a lot of conversations across the globe today regarding UOF in the US. And one thing that we can all agree on is that police officers making a joke out of training, especially in the area of use of force, is not a good place to start. Today’s article focuses on a recent case, Wright vs. City of Euclid[i]. To start things off, here’s

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Qualified Immunity – What Every Officer Needs To Know: Part Three

Part Three – What the Public Needs to Know So, what is qualified immunity? What does it mean to society as a whole? And what should law enforcement officers tell the public when it comes to qualified immunity? What we really need to talk about is how qualified immunity affects our day to day operation. The difficulty as a lay person who watches news

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Qualified Immunity – What Every Officer Needs To Know: Part Two

Part Two – The Law of Qualified Immunity and Due Process  To fully understand qualified immunity, we need to discuss why qualified immunity is important to the judicial system and taxpayer dollars. More often than not as a Use of Force consultant the questions that I get asked are how do you protect yourself and your agency? And there’s three things that I always

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