Opinion ID: 783116
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Haugen's Potential Weapon

Text: 25 Officer Brosseau said she believed that Haugen might have a weapon in the car. When Haugen was running toward the Jeep, Brosseau said that she thought he might be running for a weapon since he would not be running simply to hide there. When she first approached the Jeep, she said that he reached down to an area on the floorboard in the middle of the front seat and that she thought he was reaching for a weapon. Once she broke the window, however, Brosseau saw that he had only keys in his hands. But moments later, just as he started the car, Brosseau said Haugen dived forward as if to grab something on the floorboard again. Brosseau stated that she feared again that he might have a weapon, and that she therefore stepped back and away from the driver's window. 26 Brosseau admitted that at the time she shot Haugen, she was not worried that he would use any weapon against her. She had stepped back and away from him, and had positioned herself behind him, so that even if Haugen had had a gun he would not have had a clear shot. She said, however, that she feared if Haugen had a gun he might use it on some officers who might have approached the front of his car, or that he might use it against Tamburello or Atwood, who he had cause to be unhappy with. 27 The factual predicate of Brosseau's stated reason is that Haugen dove forward as he started the car. But several other witnesses gave statements about what Haugen was doing in the car. None of these witnesses mentioned that Haugen dove forward, and none has offered any support for Brosseau's assertion that Haugen looked as if he might have been reaching for a weapon. Nor has Brosseau offered any other evidence to support her belief that Haugen might have had a gun. She did not see a gun in the car, and she had not received any reports that he might have one, or indeed that he had ever had one. Under Ninth Circuit precedent, the mere presence of a weapon does not justify the use of deadly force, see Harris, 126 F.3d at 1202; Curnow, 952 F.2d at 324-25; Ting, 927 F.2d at 1508-11, let alone the potential presence of a weapon. 28 [A] simple statement by an officer that he fears for his safety or the safety of others is not enough; there must be objective factors to justify such a concern. Deorle v. Rutherford, 272 F.3d 1272, 1281 (9th Cir.2001). Movements by a suspect are not enough to justify deadly force if, in light of the relevant circumstances, those movements would not cause a reasonable officer to believe that the suspect was reaching for a weapon. In support of her stated fear that Haugen was reaching for a weapon, Brosseau has cited no objective factors other than her stated observation that he dove forward and appeared to be reaching for something. Construing all of the relevant facts and circumstances and drawing all reasonable inferences in Haugen's favor, as we must on a motion for summary judgment, we conclude that Brosseau has not demonstrated an objectively reasonable fear about a potential weapon that would justify her use of deadly force. 29