Vol. 33 No. 25 CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS PUBLIC AGENCY PURSUIT IMMUNITY ACCORDED BY CALIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE SECTION 17004.7

On August 13, 2018, the Supreme Court of California held, in Ramirez v. City of Gardena, that a public agency’s pursuit policy must have California Vehicle Code section 17004.7’s written certification requirement, but 100 percent compliance with that requirement was not a prerequisite to receiving immunity for damages resulting from a vehicle pursuit. The Court’s […]

Vol. 33 No. 23 POBRA STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ACCRUAL DATE NOT APPLICABLE AT THE POINT IN TIME WHEN A SENIOR OFFICER, WHO WAS NOT A PERSON “AUTHORIZED TO INITIATE AN INVESTIGATION”, RECEIVED EVIDENCE OF MISCONDUCT

In Daugherty v. City and County of San Francisco, 24 Cal. App. 5th 928 (1st Dist. 2018), published in July 2018, the California First District Court of Appeal found disciplinary charges were timely where a senior officer aware of officer misconduct was not deemed “a person authorized to initiate an investigation.”  Alternatively, the Court also […]

Vol. 33 No. 7 CONSENT EXCEPTION TO WARRANTLESS ENTRY INTO OCCUPANTS HOME UNREASONABLE AS TO AN OCCUPANT WHO IS PHYSICALLY PRESENT AND EXPRESSLY REFUSES CONSENT TO ENTRY

Bonivert v. City of Clarkston, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 4625 (9th Cir. Feb. 26, 2018) Facts In January 2012, City of Clarkston, Washington (the “City”) police officers, Sergeant Danny Combs and Officer Paul Purcell, received a “physical domestic” dispatch to the home of Ryan Bonivert. The dispatcher relayed to the officers that an argument between […]

Vol. 34 No. 7 EIGHTH AMENDMENT’S PROHIBITION ON EXCESSIVE FINES APPLIES TO THE STATES

On February 20, 2019 in the case of Timbs v. Indiana, 2019 U.S. LEXIS 1350 (Feb. 20, 2019), the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause was “fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty,” with “dee[p] root[s] in [our] history and tradition.”  The Court concluded that the Excessive Fines Clause […]