Police Misconduct Attorney Jerry L. Steering has been suing the police since 1984 for police brutality / excessive force, false arrests, malicious prosecutions, wrongful deaths and first amendment retaliation cases. Mr. Steering sues the police in Coronado, California, and throughout the State of California in federal court for violation of civilians’ federal constitutional rights. Mr. Steering’s many years of experience and expertise in suing the police in federal court can maximize your chances of actually winning your lawsuit against the police in federal court. THE CORONADO POLICE DEPARTMENT & BRYAN v. McPHERSON; THE CONSTITUTION IS ONLY WHAT THE COURT SAY IT IS. In Bryan v. McPherson, 608 F.3d 614 (2010) plaintiff Carl Bryan was pulled over by defendant Coronado Police Department Officer Brian MacPherson in a routine traffic stop for a seat-belt violation. During the initial interaction, Carl Bryan became extremely agitated, and Officer MacPherson directed Bryan to pull his car over to the curb, and Bryan complied. Bryan was wearing only boxer shorts and tennis shoes when he exited his car, and began hitting his thighs and yelling gibberish from a distance of 15 to 25 feet from Coronado Officer MacPherson. Without warning, Officer MacPherson then shot Bryan from behind with a taser gun, causing plaintiff Carl Bryan to fall and sustain injuries to his face and teeth. Bryan sued Officer MacPherson for tasing him, claiming that he posed no threat of harm to the officer, and, therefore, tasing him was per se unreasonable force under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Officer MacPherson moved for summary judgment based on the doctrine of qualified immunity; the doctrine that states that unless there was legal precedent that would have put any reasonably well-trained police officer that such conduct was a constitutional violation, that even if the court finds that the police violated your constitutional rights, that the officer wins; that he/she is entitled to immunity from suit. The district court denied the motion on multiple grounds and found that a reasonable jury could find that Officer MacPherson used excessive force. Officer MacPherson appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of the District Court’s denial of qualified immunity. On his first Appeal to the Ninth Circuit, Bryan won, and the Ninth Circuit held that McPherson’s tasing of Bryan violated his Fourth Amendment rights. However, that was not the end of the story. After the Ninth Circuit found in favor of Carl Bryan (denying the offices qualified immunity for his tasing), that court decided two more taser cases; Mattos v. Agarano, 590 F. 3d 1082 (2010) and Brooks v. City of Seattle, 599 F.3d 1018 (2010); both taser cases. After deciding those cases, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed Mattos and Brooks en banc, and reversed those cases denial of qualified immunity to the officers in those case, holding that the law on qualified immunity was not sufficiently clear to deny the officers qualified immunity from suit. See, Mattos v. Agarano and Brooks v. City of Seattle, 661 F.3d 433 (2011)(enbanc). After that en banc decision in Mattos and Brooks, the Ninth Circuit reversed its own ruling in Bryan v. McPherson, and awarded the Coronado police officers qualified immunity. So, now you know that there is no such thing as the United States Constitution. It is nothing other than what the appellate courts and the Supreme Court says it is. IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF POLICE MISCONDUCT, JERRY L. STEERING CAN HELP YOU. If you are the victim of police misconduct, Jerry L. Steering can help you. Call Jerry L. Steering, Esq. at (949) 474-1849, or email Mr. Steering at jerry@steeringlaw.com. FREE CASE EVALUATION Police Misconduct Specialties: Excessive Force Concealing Evidence Destroying Evidence False Arrest K-9 Maulings Malicious Prosecution Police Beatings Police Brutality Police Shootings Whistle Blower Retaliation Wrongful Death
