Home

Table of Forms

Thesaurus

						iLaw Dictionary			USAConstitution Law
						California			Law Students-USL
						Law Dictionary			BankruptcyCode.US
						Standard of Review-Reasonable Force			United States Law.US

US Codes

State Codes

Evidence

Law Students-USL

Federal Civil Procedure-Main Page

Medical Dictionaries

A Legal and Business Portal-Home Page
A Legal and Business Portal-Home Page

iLaw Dictionary
California
Law Dictionary
Standard of Review-Reasonable Force
(Munoz v. City of Union City)
A - B- C- D - E- F - G - H -I- J - L - M- K to Z

Standard of Review-Use of Unreasonable Force by Police Officer-(Munoz v. City of Union City)

Claims that police officers used excessive force in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop or other “seizure” of a free citizen are analyzed under the reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Graham v. Connor (1989) 490 U.S. 386, 395.)[6] “The test of reasonableness in this context is an objective one, viewed from the vantage of a reasonable officer on the scene. It is also highly deferential to the police officer’s need to protect himself and others: ‘The “reasonableness” of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. [Citation.] . . . The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving—about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation. [¶] [T]he “reasonableness” inquiry in an excessive force case is an objective one: the question is whether the officers’ actions are “objectively reasonable” in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their underlying intent or motivation. [Citations.]’ (Graham [v. Connor], supra, 490 U.S. at pp. 396-397 . . . .)

“ ‘. . . Thus, under Graham, we must avoid substituting our personal notions of proper police procedure for the instantaneous decision of the officer at the scene. We must never allow the theoretical, sanitized world of our imagination to replace the dangerous and complex world that policemen face every day. What constitutes “reasonable” action may seem quite different to someone facing a possible assailant than to someone analyzing the question at leisure.’ (Smith v. Freland (6th Cir. 1992) 954 F.2d 343, 347.)

“The Supreme Court’s definition of reasonableness is therefore ‘comparatively generous to the police in cases where potential danger, emergency conditions or other exigent circumstances are present.’ (Roy v. Inhabitants of City of Lewiston (1st Cir. 1994) 42 F.3d 691, 695 . . . .) In effect, ‘the Supreme Court intends to surround the police who make these on-the-spot choices in dangerous situations with a fairly wide zone of protection in close cases. . . .’ (Ibid.)” (Martinez v. County of Los Angeles (1996) 47 Cal.App.4th 334, 343-344 (Martinez).) “An officer’s use of deadly force is reasonable only if ‘the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.’ [(]Tennessee v. Garner [(1985)] 471 U.S. 1, 3 . . . ; see also Graham [v. Connor], supra, 490 U.S. at [p. ]396 . . . (one of factors in determining reasonableness is ‘whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others’).” (Scott v. Henrich (9th Cir. 1994) 39 F.3d 912, 914, italics omitted; Reynolds v. County of San Diego (9th Cir. 1996) 84 F.3d 1162, 1167, overruled on other grounds in Acri v. Varian Associates, Inc. (9th Cir. 1997) 109 F.3d 1375; Martinez, supra, 47 Cal.App.4th at p. 345.) “Thus, ‘an officer may reasonably use deadly force when he or she confronts an armed suspect in close proximity whose actions indicate an intent to attack.’ ” (Martinez, supra, 47 Cal.App.4th at p. 345, quoting Reynolds v. County of San Diego (S.D.Cal. 1994) 858 F.Supp. 1064, 1072.)

Respondents presented substantial evidence justifying the jury’s determination that the use of deadly force by Woodward was unreasonable. For example, Woodward testified that he shot Lucilla because he believed she had a gun and was going to kill at least her father. Respondents presented evidence, however, that Woodward should have known Lucilla in fact held two knives (leaving no room in her hands for a gun) because the initial police dispatch so reported and various individuals whom Woodward could have contacted directly or through the dispatcher (Jessie, J.J. and Yvette) knew Lucilla held two knives. Woodward himself had testified in a deposition that at the time he arrived at Lucilla’s house he had heard the dispatcher confirm that Lucilla was in possession of one knife. Woodward acknowledged, however, that the tape of the dispatch, which he had subsequently reviewed, in fact stated she had two knives. Woodward testified at trial that he did not hear the broadcast of the dispatcher’s confirmation because his radio was malfunctioning, but that Kruger told him its substance.[7]

There was also evidence that Woodward made statements indicating he realized Lucilla had two knives: Jessie said second officer told Lucilla to “drop the knives and talk to him.” Yvette answered in the affirmative the question whether she heard the police “ask [Lucilla] to put the knives down.” J.J. heard Woodward tell Lucilla, “ ‘put the knives down so I can come in to talk to you.’ ”

Additionally, while Woodward and the other officers testified they could not see Lucilla’s right hand because it was concealed behind the latch plate on the screen door, the credibility of this testimony was undermined by the same witnesses’ descriptions of Lucilla’s agitated state. Respondents’ forensic expert John Thornton testified that, given Lucilla’s short stature, when standing with her back close to the open front door, her right arm would not have been long enough to reach the 30 inches to the beginning of the latch plate. Based on an experiment conducted with a coworker who was one inch taller than Lucilla, Thornton opined that the knife in Lucilla’s right hand would have been visible to anyone standing within five or ten feet of the door. Defense expert George Williams testified that “someone who was in an agitated state such as [Lucilla] was it would not likely be possible for her to hold her hand in any one position for any extended period of time.” Kruger testified that Lucilla waved both her hands around and there was nothing preventing him from seeing both of her hands. Housley testified that Lucilla was “throwing her body around vigorously and rapidly,” although he also testified he was not able to see her right hand because it was concealed behind the latch plate on the screen door. Jessie testified that he never saw Lucilla conceal her hands or hold her hand behind the latch plate.

The evidence also showed that Woodward and the other officers maintained positions that would have been directly in the line of fire if Lucilla had been armed with a gun, contrary to their training, permitting the jury to infer that the officers did not actually think she had a gun.

Finally, there was evidence from which the jury could have inferred that Woodward was not reasonable in believing that Lucilla posed an immediate threat to her father and daughter: J.J.’s initial report to the police expressed concern for Lucilla herself but no concern that she might hurt anyone else, and no witness other than Woodward heard Lucilla make any threat directed at her relatives. Several witnesses testified they did not hear Lucilla threaten anyone. Woodward testified that he never heard Lucilla threaten Yvette, and that the initial dispatch concerning the situation did not refer to threats to family members. Reedy testified that all of the witnesses other than Woodward stated that Lucilla made no threats. This evidence was ample to support a finding of unreasonable force.

The cases relied upon by appellants to support a contrary conclusion are distinguishable. In Martinez, supra, police officers who had just arrested and handcuffed two juveniles for spray-painting graffiti on a store were faced with a man holding a carving knife with an eight-inch blade in positions ranging from “waist high with the blade pointed skyward to by his head above his shoulders.” (47 Cal.App.4th at p. 340.) The man walked toward the officers in a “slow, stiff, rigid, deliberate, lethargic and mechanical” manner, apparently oblivious to the traffic through which he walked. (Id. at p. 339.) The officers believed he was under the influence of PCP and knew that a person taking PCP can have extraordinary strength and a high pain tolerance. The officers drew pistols and told the man to stop and drop the knife; he continued to advance, shouting, “ ‘ “Go ahead, kill me or I’m going to kill you” ’ and ‘ “Shoot me. Shoot me.” ’ ” (Id. at p. 340.) Although the officers repeatedly retreated and told the man to drop the knife, he continued toward them, appearing to one witness as though he wanted to stab them. When he came within about 10 to 15 feet of the officers (and juveniles they had handcuffed), the officers shot him. (Ibid.) Martinez concluded the shooting was objectively reasonable because the man continued to advance despite repeated warnings to stop and stated his intention to kill the officers.[8]

In Reynolds v. County of San Diego, supra, 84 F.3d 1162, a man at a gas station who was holding a knife and was reported to have been acting strangely confronted a police officer. The officer drew his gun, ordered Reynolds to stop and put his hands in the air and Reynolds complied. He further complied with a direction to get on the ground and, told to drop the knife, placed the knife on the ground next to him. As the officer slowly approached, telling Reynolds not to move, Reynolds suddenly sat up and grabbed the knife. The officer continued to approach, placed his knee in Reynolds’s back and his gun on Reynolds’s neck, and ordered Reynolds to drop the knife. Reynolds “twisted his body and made a sudden, backhanded, upward swing toward Jackson with his right hand which was holding the knife.” The officer shot and killed him. (Id. at p. 1165.) The Reynolds court found the use of deadly force reasonable because “[b]y suddenly swinging at [the officer] with the knife, Reynolds threatened [the officer’s] life or at least put him in fear of great bodily injury.” (Id. at p. 1168.) The court rejected expert testimony that Reynolds moved because of the pressure of the officer’s gun on his neck as speculation and stated that expert opinion that the officer should have used alternative methods to restrain Reynolds did not raise a triable fact as to the reasonableness of the conduct. (Id. at p. 1169.)

Here, although Lucilla was armed with two knives, she was not using them to threaten her relatives in the house. Jessie testified that Lucilla was pointing the knives at the door behind her and stabbing the door with them. Woodward was the only witness who claimed to hear any verbal threat directed at Jessie or Yvette. Lucilla was unquestionably agitated and acting erratically, but she remained in the same place, at the door of the house, throughout the incident. While several witnesses heard her statement that she was going to come out at the officers in “full force,” she never in fact made a move to do so. The movement that precipitated Woodward’s shots was a six-inch movement in the direction Jessie and Yvette had gone. On this evidence, the jury could reasonably conclude that Lucilla’s actions did not “ ‘indicate an intent to attack’ ” (Martinez, supra, 47 Cal.App.4th at p. 345), and Woodward did not have probable cause to believe Lucilla posed a “significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer[s] or others.” (Tennessee v. Garner, supra, 471 U.S. at p. 3; Reynolds v. County of San Diego, supra, 84 F.3d at p. 1167; Scott v. Henrich, supra, 39 F.3d at p. 914.)

Appellants argue that there were no reasonable alternatives to use of deadly force, urging that it was speculative to assume the various alternatives suggested in Reedy’s testimony (evacuating Jessie and Yvette through the rear of the house, entering through the rear door or forcibly opening the front door) would have changed the ultimate result of Lucilla being shot. We do not find it necessary to resolve whether Reedy’s testimony presented evidence of viable alternative resolutions of this crisis situation. The question before us is whether a reasonable jury could have concluded that the evidence proved Woodward’s use of deadly force was unreasonable. The reasonableness of Woodward’s use of deadly force is judged by assessment of the facts and circumstances to determine whether Woodward had “probable cause to believe that the suspect pose[d] a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.” (Tennessee v. Garner, supra, 471 U.S. at p. 3; Scott v. Henrich, supra, 39 F.3d at p. 914; Reynolds v. County of San Diego, supra, 84 F.3d at p. 1167.) Since there was substantial evidence from which the jury could conclude he did not, appellants’ challenge must fail.

Munoz v. City of Union City A0958467/23/04

Jul 23 2004

A095846
[PDF] [DOC]

Munoz v. City of Union City 7/23/04 CA1/2

A - B- C- D - E- F - G - H -I- J - L - M- K to Z
California: Authoritative-Law Dictionary: Table of Contents
Glossaries Directory Table of Contents
Thesaurus Directory
Dictionaries Directory Table of Contents