Federal Judiciary

Petition of the day

By Conor McEvily

Today?s first petition of the day is:

Title: Werner v. Peak Alarm Company, Inc.
Docket: 10-430
Issue(s): (1) Whether a police officer lacks probable cause to momentarily detain a person who subjectively believes that he did not commit any crime and, if so, whether the office is entitled to qualified immunity; and (2) whether the Utah Supreme Court erred when it failed to analyze whether the police officers could have reasonably believed that probable cause existed under the circumstances.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

• Opinion below (Supreme Court of Utah)
• Petition for certiorari

Today’s second petition of the day is:

Title: City of Santa Rosa, California v. DeSantis
Docket: 10-434
Issue(s): (1) Whether a police officer is entitled to qualified immunity for the shooting of someone believed to be armed when alternative force options were available to other officers at the scene but not to the individual officer; (2) whether such conduct can evidence a purpose to harm without legitimate law enforcement purpose sufficient to support a Fourteenth Amendment claim against the officer; and (3) whether a court should deny qualified immunity to an officer based only on a portion of the plaintiff's testimony when six police officers and an independent eye witness testified that no reasonable trier of fact would find in the plaintiff's favor based on the entire record.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

• Opinion below (9th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).