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COURT REPORTER
What is Reasonable for Police? [by James Kilpatrick] Of the making of Fourth Amendment cases, to paraphrase the Preacher, there shall be no end. In support of that truism, consider the case of Dr. Michael Baldwin of Loomis, Calif. He is suing the county cops for abusing their powers. Four months ago he won a round in the 9th Circuit. Now the cops have asked the Supreme Court to hear their appeal.
The case began in July 1998, when the sheriff
147 marijuana plants. Baldwin’s subsequent
The high court voted 8-1 to reverse. Gore’s
of Placer County received a tip that Baldwin,
trial for possession ended limply with the jury
presence created a significant exigency. Katz
a dentist, might be growing marijuana in his
hung 7-2 for conviction. Charges against him
had not been seriously injured, if indeed he
home. The town of Loomis (pop. 6,312) is may-
are not likely to be revived. In 2001 the case
had been injured at all. More to the point: “The
be 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. The mill
devolved into a civil suit by the dentist and
question is what the officer reasonably under-
wheels of the law began their slow rotation.
Ms. Chacko against Placer County and the
stood his powers to be, when he acted, under
implicated officers. Last April a panel of the
clearly established standards.” Saucier had
On Sept. 16, a sheriff’s posse led by deputy
9th U.S. Circuit ruled firmly against the cops.
substantial grounds for believing that he had
Jeffrey Potter searched the outside garbage
They had violated the couple’s civil rights by
justification under the law for acting as he did.
at the dentist’s home. Regrettably, Potter
relying upon a false affidavit. Their claim to
then swore that they had found “marijuana
qualified immunity “was rightly denied.” From
Justice Anthony Kennedy had a few caveats.
leaves and stems recently cut from a mature
that order the county and the officers seek
The excessiveness of an officer’s conduct
marijuana plant.” Moreover, “the marijuana
Supreme Court review.
must be judged by objective standards of reasonableness. The border between excessive
was fresh green and still moist.” This was not so. (The posse had found only .08 grams of
In the 9th Circuit, Judge John T. Noonan
and acceptable force is “sometimes hazy.”
dried and partly burned marijuana leaves and
treated the county’s case roughly: Baldwin
It is sometimes difficult for an officer, in the
stems.)
was a practicing dentist. Nothing in the record
heat of a moment, to determine “how the
indicates that the officers had reason to
doctrine of excessive force applies to a factual
Other items in the trash aroused the depu-
believe he would resist or flee. The officers
situation.” Police should be granted immunity
ties’ legitimate suspicions. A week later they
had stated no belief that the plaintiffs would
for “reasonable mistakes.”
obtained a warrant. In the early dawn, to
be armed. A reasonable officer should have
quote Dr. Baldwin’s subsequent deposition,
known that Potter’s treatment of Baldwin’s
On that early morning in California, did the
five officers burst “paramilitary style” into
wife was excessive. The malfeasant officer
cops act reasonably? Doubtful, I would say,
his home. Officer Mark Reed pointed a gun at
had “concocted a story and fed it to a magis-
highly doubtful.
the doctor and ordered him to lie down. Reed
trate.” (Letters to Mr. Kilpatrick should be sent by
“then pushed his gun at the rear of (Baldwin’s) head.”
If the Supreme Court takes the county’s ap-
e-mail to kilpatjj@aol.com.)
peal, we will hear a good deal about a relevant Baldwin’s then-wife, Georgia Chacko, was
incident in 1994 in San Francisco. The historic
COPYRIGHT 2005 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDI-
awakened by the noise. She was clothed only
Presidio army base was being converted from
CATE
in a T-shirt and cotton briefs. She opened
a hospital to a municipal park. The hospital
This feature may not be reproduced or dis-
her bedroom door. A man poked his fingers
somehow was identified with medical experi-
tributed electronically, in print or otherwise
sharply into her throat and ordered her to get
ments on animals. Vice President Al Gore was
without the written permission of uclick and
on the floor. The intruder pointed a gun at
the ceremonial speaker. Elliot Katz, president
Universal Press Syndicate.
her and held it briefly against her head. Then,
of In Defense of Animals, attempted to display
according to her deposition, the unidentified
a large banner in protest of vivisection. The
gunman kneed her in the small of her back
MPs hauled him off. He sued Officer Donald
and handcuffed her. The gunman was Potter.
Saucier and others for police brutality and
To shorten the story: The deputies seized
won on a procedural motion.
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