{"id":2085,"date":"2008-06-22T07:34:57","date_gmt":"2008-05-17T22:34:52","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-18T08:48:56","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=2085","title":{"rendered":"CA9: Bare certification of government under 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 3731 sufficient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Government interlocutory appeals: “[W]e hold that the United States Attorney’s bare certification regarding delay and materiality in accordance with the terms of \u00a7 3731 was sufficient to give us appellate jurisdiction to address the government’s objections to the district court’s orders. We therefore overrule our prior decisions to the extent that they conflict with our ruling today, including United States v. Loud Hawk<\/em>, 628 F.2d 1139 (9th Cir. 1979) (en banc), and United States v. Adrian<\/em>, 978 F.2d 486 (9th Cir. 1992).” United States v. Grace<\/a>, 526 F.3d 499 (9th Cir. 2008).<\/p>\n

Advancing on an officer with a box cutter in hand resulted in a shooting from two feet away when the officer was backed up against her patrol car. The officer was entitled to qualified immunity. She didn’t have to check whether the blade was extended and how far. Njang v. Montgomery County<\/a>, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 10394 (4th Cir. May 14, 2008) (unpublished)*:<\/p>\n

First, Appellants point out that the box cutter did not, in fact, have its blade extended at the time of the shooting. They argue that the box cutter was therefore not actually dangerous, and posed no threat to Officer Marchone. Appellants misunderstand our inquiry here. The proper test is whether a reasonable officer in Officer Marchone’s position would have perceived <\/em>Njang’s actions to be threatening. See id<\/em>. For example, this court has held that an officer may use deadly force in certain circumstances even when the officer has not confirmed that the suspect is armed. See McLenagan v. Karnes<\/em>, 27 F.3d 1002, 1007 (4th Cir. 1994) (“[W]e do not think it wise to require a police officer, in all instances, to actually detect the presence of an object in a suspect’s hands before firing on him.”).<\/p>\n

Here, Officer Marchone testified that the object in Njang’s hands “looked like a knife” to her. J.A. 57. One eyewitness thought that the object was a box cutter, and another confirmed that it “looked like a knife to [him].” J.A. 99. 7 Considering the “tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving” circumstances preceding the shooting, Graham<\/em>, 490 U.S. at 396, we can hardly say that Officer Marchone was unreasonable in believing that the box cutter, blade extended or not, posed a serious threat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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