Allene Gates v. John Rivera
Opinion
Opinion
Noonan, J.
Aleñe Gates (Gates) brought a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against John Rivera (Rivera), a Santa Ana police officer, for using excessive force against her son, Marvin McGensey by intentionally shooting him to death. A jury returned a verdict for Rivera, and judgment was entered in his favor. Finding the evidentiary rulings attacked on appeal to be correct or, in two cases, harmless error, we affirm.
FACTS
On Sunday, February 6, 1989 Rivera was house-hunting in Riverside, California with his wife, Susan, who was at the wheel of their car. Rivera was a police officer with the Santa Ana Police Department and had served in this capacity for 7 years. He was carrying his service revolver on his left ankle. As they stopped at a red light, Rivera saw a man, later identified as McGensey, jump over a wall protecting a condominium complex.
He continued to watch as McGensey crouched, looked around, and then climbed over another wall into another condominium. Athough he was on his day off, Rivera thought a burglary was in progress and decided to investigate. He asked his wife to turn the car around and drive into the driveway of the condominium complex.