{"id":2013,"date":"2021-07-02T13:02:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T13:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stonebusailah.com\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2021-07-02T13:02:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T13:02:06","slug":"odoan-vs-stanford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/2021\/07\/02\/odoan-vs-stanford\/","title":{"rendered":"O’DOAN VS STANFORD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author: Robert Rabe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting that James O\u2019Doan had experienced an epileptic seizure, was trying to break windows, and had fled his home naked. When officers arrived, O\u2019Doan refused to comply with the officers\u2019 commands to stop and took off quickly. Officer Sanford used a \u201creverse reap throw\u201d1 to bring him to the ground. Once O\u2019Doan was on the ground, it took three officers and one firefighter to restrain him. O\u2019Doan was transported to the hospital for minor injuries and released on bail the next day. The charges against O\u2019Doan were later dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Doan sued in federal Court under 42 U.S.C. \u00a71983, alleging the officers used excessive force against him, lacked probable cause to arrest him and alleged a related Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim against the City. The Court granted motions for summary judgment in favor of the officers, and the City
and O\u2019Doan appealed to the 9th Circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims Under Title 42 U.S.C. \u00a71983<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officers sued under \u00a71983 may be immune from civil liability under the doctrine of qualified immunity when they exercise power responsibly and perform their duties reasonably. Whether the officers are entitled to qualified immunity depends on (1) whether there has been a violation of a constitutional right; and (2) whether that right was \u201cclearly established\u201d at the time of the officer\u2019s alleged misconduct. To be clearly established, a right must be sufficiently clear that every reasonable
official would have understood that what he is doing violates that right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excessive Force Claim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court held officers were entitled to qualified immunity concluding Officer Sanford\u2019s use of the \u201creverse reap throw\u201d on
O\u2019Doan did not violate clearly established law. The Court noted the officers were called to a situation with a violent individual, where they found O\u2019Doan naked, ignoring officers\u2019 commands to stop, then turn towards the officers in a threatening manner – with fists clenched. The Court also noted that the reverse reap throw maneuver involved a modest deployment of force, it was not clear that a less intrusive alternative would have worked, and O\u2019Doan failed to present any previous court decision which would suggest the force used was excessive. In fact, the Court noted that prior cases involving much more significant <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADA Claim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court held that the district court correctly granted summary judgment on the plaintiff\u2019s ADA claim that the officers failed to reasonably accommodate his disability and should have detained him in a less forceful manner that was more appreciative of O\u2019Doan\u2019s epilepsy. Under the ADA, the person alleging the violation has the burden of proving the existence of a \u201creasonable accommodation.\u201d The Court held that O\u2019Doan had not shown a lesser amount of force would have been reasonable under the circumstances, or how officers with different training would have acted differently given the exigencies of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlawful Arrest Claim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court has explained that courts must evaluate wrongful arrest claims under the qualified immunity\u2019s \u201cclearly established law\u201d requirement. When determining whether an officer had probable cause for an arrest, the court examines the events leading up to the arrest and whether the facts when viewed from the perspective of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to probable cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addressing O\u2019Doan\u2019s unlawful arrest claim, the Court noted that, while it was sympathetic to O\u2019Doan and acknowledged his disability, the officers had probable cause to arrest O\u2019Doan after witnessing him engage in conduct that clearly violated state law. The Court explained that police officers are not necessarily precluded under federal law from arresting someone who displays symptoms of a known medical condition, and it \u201cis not the rule that police must investigate a defendant\u2019s legal defenses before making an arrest.\u201d Nor did any clearly established law require the officers to conclude probable cause had dissipated once O\u2019Doan was discharged from the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court resolved this case only on the \u201cclearly established law\u201d prong of the qualified immunity framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take-away<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This incident occurred in 2016. Since that time, the California legislature has enacted several new laws concerning the use of force that serve to remind officers that individuals with disabilities may have difficulty understanding or comply with officer
commands. Another notes that an evaluation of a use of force must consider whether the officer \u201cexhausted the available and feasible alternatives\u201d prior to using force. Training must now include de-escalation techniques to the need for and level of force. In any jurisdiction where \u201cdefunding the police\u201d is a new reality, and non-police professionals are available to assist in certain situations, an officer must clearly articulate whether such assistance was considered or why it was not used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay Safe and Healthy!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Rabe is Stone Busailah, LLP\u2019s writs and appeals specialist. His 41 years practicing law include 16 years as a Barrister, Supreme Court of England and Wales, practicing in London, England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: Robert Rabe Facts Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting that James O\u2019Doan had experienced an epileptic seizure, was trying to break windows, and had fled his home naked. When officers arrived, O\u2019Doan refused to comply with the officers\u2019 commands to stop and took off quickly. Officer Sanford used a \u201creverse reap throw\u201d1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qualified-immunity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villagegreentesting.com\/StoneBusailah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}