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CA10: Pulling a gun when perceiving a threat is reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer's pointing a gun at an arrestee was not unreasonable. Handcuffing another who was cooperative with the police was unreasonable. Lundstrom v. Romero, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 17136 (10th Cir. August 17, 2010)*: As an initial matter, the use of a gun does not in and of itself make an encounter an unlawful seizure. See United States v. Copening, 506 F.3d 1241, 1248 (10th Cir. 2007). "[T]he use of guns in connection with a stop is permissible where the police reasonably believe the weapons are necessary for their protection." United States v. Neff, 300 F.3d 1217, 1220 (10th Cir. 2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). "[T]he pointing of firearms should[, however,] be predicated on at least a perceived risk of injury or danger to the officers or others, based upon what the officers know at that time...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 21, 2010 (boomark / email).