AELE February 2012 case notes and publications alert
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1. Two new articles appear in the February AELE Monthly Law Journal.
• Disturbed/Suicidal Persons -- Part One
Police confronting a disturbed or suicidal person face a number of dilemmas. Under what circumstances can they use force to subdue or restrain the individual? How much force, if any, is justified? At what point should the use of force end? View at http://www.aele.org/law/2012-02MLJ101.html
• The Use of Personally-Owned Mobile Phone Cameras and Pocket Video Cameras by Public Safety Personnel
Police officers, sheriff’s deputies, coroner’s investigators, corrections officers, firefighters, paramedics and ambulance personnel are exposed to persons who have suffered horrible injuries and violent deaths. The unauthorized distribution of photos depicting gory injuries or deaths can support a civil action for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. View at http://www.aele.org/law/2012-02MLJ501.html
Persons interested in contributing an article should contact AELE.
2. The February 2012 issues of AELE’s three periodicals have been uploaded.
The current issues, back issues since 2000, three 37-year case digests, and a search engine are FREE. Everyone is welcome to read, print or download AELE publications without charge. The main menu is at: http://www.aele.org/law
Among the new cases are several that warrant mention here.
*** Law Enforcement Liability Reporter ***
• Deadly Force
Police responded to a 911 call concerning a schizophrenic, bipolar, and suicidal man who had stopped taking his medication and was threatening to harm his mother. The officers weren’t liable for shooting and killing him when he came towards them armed with knives as they entered his locked and barricaded bedroom.
They acted in reasonable self-defense, and they were entitled to qualified immunity on their warrantless entry into the bedroom based on their belief that there were exigent circumstances justifying their entry because the man constituted a threat to himself. Rockwell v. Brown, #10–11053, 2011 U.S. App. Lexis 24980 (5th Cir.).
• Search and Seizure: Vehicles
The U.S. Supreme Court held that attaching a GPS device to a vehicle to track a criminal suspect constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. It upheld the ruling of a federal appeals court suppressing the evidence and overturning a conviction based on it, since the device was attached without a valid warrant authorizing it. The Court declined to consider the government's alternative argument that the attachment and use of the device was a reasonable search, because it was not raised in the courts below. U.S. v. Jones, #10-1259, 2012 WL 171117, 2012 U.S. Lexis 1063.
*** Fire, Police & Corrections Personnel Reporter ***
• Disability Benefits - Line of duty / Disputed
A firefighter who suffered a disabling injury as a result of an on the job fight with a co-worker was not entitled to line-of-duty accidental disability retirement benefits. The fight did not constitute a proximate and natural result of a job related accident as required to qualify for such benefits. Walsh v. Scoppetta, #225, 2011 N.Y. Lexis 3656.
• Disciplinary Surveillance
During an investigation of a state employee suspected of taking unauthorized absences from work and falsifying time records, the employer attached a GPS tracking device to his privately owned vehicle. Evidence obtained from monitoring his travels was introduced at his misconduct hearing, which resulted in his termination. An intermediate state appeals court upheld the employer’s action and the use of the GPS device to gather evidence of employee misconduct.
The use of the device was reasonable when there were reasonable grounds to suspect the employee of misconduct. While the placement of a GPS device on a car in a criminal investigation requires a warrant in New York, this case did not involve a criminal investigation, and management could not obtain a warrant for its actions. Matter of Cunningham v. New York State Dept. of Labor, #512036, 2011 N.Y. App. Div. Lexis 8335, 2011 NY Slip Op 8529, 89 A.D.3d 1347, 933 N.Y.S.2d 432 (3rd Dept.).
*** Jail and Prisoner Law Bulletin ***
• Inmate Release
A prisoner was held longer than he should have been, and argued that, had prison officials checked court records, they would have noticed that he was ordered to serve concurrent rather than consecutive sentences, and released him sooner. The defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, since there was no clearly established case law imposing a duty on them to review a prisoner’s original court records “beyond those in his institutional file.” Alston v. Read, #10-15332, 2011 U.S. App. Lexis 24741 (9th Cir.).
3. Selected criminal law and procedure cases are at another free website.
View at http://www.kenwallentine.com/Xiphos.html
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