Opinion ID: 1521174
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Belief in the Lawfulness of their Actions

Text: Police officers acting in the scope of their employment are protected by a qualified immunity. In Wade v. District of Columbia, D.C.App., 310 A.2d 857, 863 (1973) (en banc), we stated: when sued [for civil wrongs] the individual police officer has a defense of good faith and reasonable belief in the validity of [his challenged acts] .... The analysis for determination of an officer's civil liability, we indicated, is two-tiered: The standard governing police conduct is composed of two elements[;] the first is subjective and the second is objective. Thus the officer must allege and prove not only that he believed, in good faith, that his conduct was lawful, but also that his belief was reasonable. Id. at 862 (quoting Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 456 F.2d 1339, 1348 (2d Cir. 1972) (on remand)); accord Woodward v. District of Columbia, D.C.App., 387 A.2d 726, 727 (1978). Here the trial court correctly instructed the jury on the standard to apply in judging appellants' conduct. [5] The jury had substantial evidence, including testimony as to the officers' deportment and reckless behavior in appellees' residence and demeanor evidence, upon which to base a judgment that appellants had either lacked the good faith belief that their behavior was lawful, or that such belief was, in the totality of the circumstances, unreasonable. We cannot say, on the evidence adduced in this case, that a reasonable juror could not so find. [6]