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Pulling a gun during a felony arrest is usually reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers entering plaintiff's house could rely on information from another officer that plaintiff was there to justify the entry on an arrest warrant. Pulling a gun on plaintiff when arresting him was not unreasonable. Greene v. Knight, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6292 (N.D. Tex. January 29, 2008)*: With respect to Plaintiff's argument about the reasonableness of the seizure, that is, the officers pointing their guns at him, the court finds it unavailing. "Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has long recognized that the right to make an arrest or investigatory stop necessarily carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coercion or threat thereof to effect it." Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989). Affidavit for search warrant for defendant's premises showed probable cause to search by circumstantial evidence, but it was adequate for the warrant to issue...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).