Petition for Certiorari – Qualified Immunity

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Supreme Court of the United States

Petition for Certiorari – Qualified Immunity

14-1143 Mullenix v. Luna

Officer’s use of deadly force falls within the protection of qualified immunity

“Cases that the Fifth Circuit ignored also suggest that Mullenix’s assessment of the threat Leija posed was reasonable. In Long v. Slaton, 508 F. 3d 576 (2007), for example, the Eleventh Circuit held that a sheriff ’s deputy did not violate the Fourth Amendment by fatally shooting a mentally unstable individual who was attempting to flee in the deputy’s car, even though at the time of the shooting the individual had not yet operated the cruiser dangerously. The court explained that “the law does not require officers in a tense and dangerous situation to wait until the moment a suspect uses a deadly weapon to act to stop the suspect” and concluded that the deputy had reason to believe Long was dangerous based on his unstable state of mind, theft of the cruiser, and failure to heed the deputy’s warning to stop. Id., at 581–582. The court also rejected the notion that the deputy should have first tried less lethal methods, such as spike strips. “[C]onsidering the unpredictability of Long’s behavior and his fleeing in a marked police cruiser,” the court held, “we think the police need not have taken that chance and hoped for the best.” Id., at 583 (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted). But see Smith v. Cupp, 430 F. 3d 766, 774–777 (CA6 2005) (denying qualified immunity to an officer who shot an intoxicated suspect who had stolen the officer’s cruiser where a reasonable jury could have concluded that the suspect’s flight did not immediately threaten the officer or any other bystander).”

Full Text

Petition for certiorari granted

5^th Circuit Decision Reversed

Scalia concurring

Sotomayor dissenting

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.