RULES
Passengers in a motor vehicle stopped for violating traffic laws are in fact seized, for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. Police officers who injure an innocent bystander when returning fire from a dangerous suspect are entitled to qualified immunity when sued by that bystander for a violation of his or her Fourth Amendment right to be free from the use of excessive force.
FACTS
Plaintiff Rosa Cuevas was a friend of one Quinntin Castro. One day (not specifically listed) in 2018, Cuevas allowed Castro to drive her car with her tagging along. sitting in the front passenger seat. (Also present in the car was someone named Cameron Ware, who was in the back seat, no doubt wondering as the below-described events developed: “What the hell am I doing here?”) Castro had the bad habit of rolling through stop signs, as noticed by Tulare Police Officer Daniel Bradley. Officer Bradley, however, feeling charitable, decided not to pull Castro over. But then when Castro also made a left turn without signaling and rolled through another stop sign, Officer Bradly determined that it was necessary to take action. When Officer Bradley tried to make a traffic stop, however, Castro declined to cooperate, putting the pedal-to-the-metal instead. So the chase was on.
The resulting pursuit lasted some ten miles with Castro driving recklessly, resulting in multiple near collisions with other drivers. With Castro in violation of Veh. Code § 2800.2 (Fleeing From a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle, Disregarding the Safety of Persons or Property; a felony/wobbler), Officer Bradley decided to perform a felony hot-stop. The chase ended when Castro got stuck in the mud at the side of the road. Officer Bradley also got stuck, right behind Castro’s car. Other officers soon arrived at the scene, including Officer Ryan Garcia with his K-9 partner, “Bane.” The officers surrounded the car as Castro continued to try to free his car from the mud, only sinking deeper and deeper.
Upon one of the officers breaking out the driver’s side window, Officer Garcia “threw (Bane) . . . through the window with a command to bite Castro.” When he did so, Castrol grabbed a gun from the car’s center console and fired at least five shots, killing Bane. Officer Garcia was also wounded. Throughout all this, a “terrified” Rosa Cuevas continued to sit in the front passenger seat with her hands raised, waiting for instructions from the police. Upon Castro shooting Bane and Officer Garcia, the other officers all began shooting into the car. (It is unknown what Cameron Ware was doing in the back seat; likely laying flat on the floor, dodging bullets.) The officers shot some thirty-four rounds into the vehicle. Although aiming at Castro, Rosa Cuevas was also hit several times.
Once the officers stopped shooting, Castro climbed out of the car and fired two additional rounds before collapsing and dying at the scene. The seriously injured Rosa Cuevas later sued the City of Tulare and everyone up the Police Department’s chain of command in federal court (per 42 U.S.C. § 1983), alleging that the officers violated her Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force. The federal district (trial) court granted the civil defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In so doing, the court first held that Rosa Cuevas’s excessive-force claim failed because she was never “seized,” as this term is defined under the Fourth Amendment. The district court also held, however, that even if the officers had seized Cuevas, it was not clearly established that the officers’ use of force under these circumstances was constitutionally excessive. As such, the civil defendants were all entitled to qualified immunity. The court therefore dismissed the case. Plaintiff Rosa Cuevas appealed.
