Posted on 01/22/2005 7:00:10 AM PST by SLB
A family's lawsuit against Casper police officers for using what they say was unnecessary force in a 2003 traffic stop will proceed to trial, according to a decision handed down Friday from Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes.
The fact that Jennifer English and her two children were stopped on June 23, 2003, as they traveled on CY Avenue while officers searched for suspects in an armed robbery, and that she and her son were then handcuffed at gunpoint, is not in dispute, the order denying summary judgment in the suit says.
But, the order continues, the question of whether the officers' decision to use what amounts to deadly force in detaining English and her children was reasonable is an objective matter that must be decided by a jury.
Arguing Thursday morning against the motion that the suit be decided without going to trial, plaintiffs' attorney John Robinson said that people should be protected from the "terrifying and humiliating" experience of having guns pointed at them by police officers in ordinary circumstances.
Whether the circumstances under which the Englishes were subjected to this experience went beyond "ordinary" is the question that will face jurors when and if the suit goes to trial.
On June 23, Jennifer English and her two children, then 14 and 9 years old, were driving east on CY Avenue in a green Ford pickup truck, according to documents.
Having heard been told moments earlier that two teenage suspects in the robbery of a Casper bakery had stolen a green Ford pickup and were fleeing east on CY, Officer Marcus Maton -- one of three Casper Police Department officers named in the suit along with Darren Douglas and Kirk Buchholz -- saw English's truck and got her to pull over.
Unable to confirm that the license plate number on English's truck matched that of the stolen pickup, documents say, Maton, Douglas and Buchholz instructed 14-year-old Dustin English and then Jennifer English to step out of the truck, walk backwards, kneel and submit to being handcuffed. All the while, documents say, the officers kept their guns unholstered, pointing them at the Englishes periodically.
The officers then released Jennifer English and her son from custody approximately six minutes into the traffic stop. After instructing English's 9-year-old daughter to leave the truck, the document says, the officers realized that the pickup was "probably" not the one they were looking for.
The suspects in the armed robbery were identified earlier by a police dispatcher as two teenagers, one tall and bald and the other short with red hair and blue eyes, according to court documents
John Rossetti, the attorney representing the officers, drew on previous court cases in arguing Thursday that it is inappropriate to judge the actions of the officers according to the standards of perfect hindsight. The officers named in the suit, he said, acted appropriately given their training.
Robinson argued, in contrast, that the standard for officers to draw their weapons must take into account the severity of the suspected crime, the likelihood that the suspects could pose a threat to officers or other people, and propensity of the suspects to flee.
Whether or not this standard was met by the officers named in the lawsuit is for a jury to decide, the court order says.
I agree.
The suspects in the armed robbery were identified earlier by a police dispatcher as two teenagers, one tall and bald and the other short with red hair and blue eyes, according to court documents
My question is, did the police know this before they stopped the pickup?
If they did then they should have known as soon as she and her kid got out of the vehicle that they had the wrong people.
If they didn't, or if the description was unclear or in doubt, then they did the right thing and the case should be dismissed.
that the standard for officers to draw their weapons must take into account the severity of the suspected crime, the likelihood that the suspects could pose a threat to officers or other people, and propensity of the suspects to flee...... Or the chances the suspects could kill one of LEO's.
How about money and MAYBE being a DUer?
As described the cops didn't do anything wrong.
I don't know if the description of what happened is accurate though.
Never apologize for doing your job.
I find the actions of the officers goes well beyond the facts that they had in hand would allow.
Although it was a green pickup of the right maker, there was no mention of the relative age of the truck. You can tell me a police office can not tell the difference between a 10 year old or older truck and a newer model.
There were 3 people in the truck, none of which remotely matched the description of the criminals.
Instead of ordering the driver and passengers out of the truck and explaining the situation and allowing the driver to produce proof of registration(ownership); remember the pickup was stolen, the officers immediately handcuffed a child. This is not a mistake, it is an over reaction.
A public statement right after the incident would have prevented this from getting to court, but now that it is there, I would have to find in favor of the family; set damages at $1000.00 and order the officers involved to publicly apologize for there actions.
How do you get that they matched 90% of the description from this story. The only thing that matched was a green pickup on the same street . The description was for two teen-agers. If a police officer cant tell a grown Mother driving and a 9 year old girl from two teen agers they are incompetent to the point of idiocy. There were 3 people here not two . Kneeling in the dirt while 2 idiots handcuff myself and my kid in front of my 9 year old would thouroughly piss me off. I dont know what the monetary judgement should be but at the very least the two idiot officers should have a letter in their jackets.
The police state is right around the corner and coming fast. The police have violated their oath to uphold the Constitution. They are fraudulently naturalized. They need to be deported.
The police state is right around the corner and coming fast. The police have violated their oath to uphold the Constitution. They are fraudulently naturalized. They need to be deported.
That is what I am thinking
Released in six minutes? Not guilty.
Better she met the police than the robbers.
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