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Pulling gun on defendant for parking violation was unreasonable arrest

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Pulling a gun on the defendant for parking in a red zone (fire lane) in California was unreasonable because there was no reason to do so, thereby making the arrest unlawful. [Somehow,] Neverthless, the impoundment of the car was still valid. United States v. Zacarias, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31444 (C.D. Cal. April 15, 2008): "[I]f the police draw their guns it greatly increases the seriousness of the stop." Washington v. Lambert, 98 F.3d 1181, 1188 (9th Cir. 1996); see also United States v. Serna-Barreto, 842 F.2d 965, 967 (7th Cir. 1988) ("The significance of the pointed gun is that it makes the encounter far more frightening than if the officer's gun remains holstered, or even drawn but pointed down at his side; and certainly where the danger of the encounter to the officer, though potentially serious, is not clear and present, the deliberate pointing of a gun at the suspect is problematic...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 20, 2008 (boomark / email).