Grant Of Summary Judgment Reversed In Police Shooting.

Police officers stopped a car for a broken tail light after being informed the driver was a methamphetamine-selling gang member. They shouted for the driver to get on the ground as he was emerging from the vehicle. According to four of the officers, he ignored their commands and instead reached for the waistband of his pants. Fearing that he was reaching for a gun, all five officers opened fire, firing about twenty shots in two to three seconds. After they ceased firing, the officers approached the body to find it tangled in a seat belt and hanging from it. No weapon was found on the body, but a nine-millimeter was later recovered from the passenger seat. In reversing the grant of summary judgment in favor of the City, the Ninth Circuit stated: “Nobody likes a game of ‘he said, she said,’ but far worse is the game of ‘we said, he’s dead.’ Sadly, this is too often what we face in police shooting cases like this one.” (Cruz v. The City of Anaheim  (Ninth Cir.; August 28, 2014) 765 F.3d 1076.)