CA2: Whether to employ a SWAT team entitled to qualified immunity; rest of raid not

The decision to employ a SWAT team is subject to qualified immunity, but the actions that follow here aren’t. The raid here was overkill [my word], and the officers do not get qualified immunity for how it was conducted because there remain factual disputes for trial. Terebesi v. Torreso, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16133 (2d Cir. August 21, 2014).* [If you’re interested in SWAT teams gone bad, this is an interesting opinion showing how they used they three stun grenades, shot and killed a man essentially over a rock of crack, yet found no guns, apparently overstating the threat the occupants allegedly imposed. They psychology of SWAT teams and what they are willing to do often amazes me.]

Defendant is a former justice of the state supreme court convicted of election related violations) email account. The search warrant for the email account was overbroad under principles established in a related case (Commonwealth v. Orie, 2014 PA Super 44, 88 A.3d 983, 1008 (2014)), but the ten emails introduced in evidence were harmless error in light of all the other evidence at trial. Commonwealth v. Melvin, 2014 PA Super 181, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2873 (August 21, 2014).*

Driving too slow on I-55, crossing the center line, and then making a hasty exit after almost passing the exit justified defendant’s stop for potentially either being impaired or avoiding the officer. United States v. Richardson, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117184 (N.D. Miss. August 22, 2014).*