Published on: Wednesday, July 20, 2022
A 5-foot, 100ish-pound teen yells at Sonoma County, Calif. officer, steps in his way as he tries to question her sister, tries to leave despite being ordered to stay, and yanks away from the officer as he tries to cuff her in 2015. A jury convicts her of resisting, obstructing, or delaying the officer. Can she still sue the officer for tackling her, which resulted in two black eyes and facial bruising? District court: no. Ninth Circuit (2021): No. En banc Ninth Circuit (2022): Heck yes. Just because you are convicted doesn’t mean everything the cop did was OK.