Gallegos
Gallegos v. City of Los Angeles
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Silverman, J.
Opinion by Judge SILVERMAN; Dissent by Judge RAWLINSON.
Responding to a 911 call and mistakenly believing Francisco Gallegos to be a burglary suspect, police pulled him over, ordered him out of his truck at gunpoint, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of a patrol car. Police then brought Gallegos to the scene of the reported incident, where it was confirmed that he was not the suspect. He was returned to his truck and released less than an hour after he was initially detained. Gallegos sued, alleging a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, and the district court granted summary judgment for defendants. We affirm. We hold that, given what the police were told about the man they were looking for, detaining Gallegos for forty-five to sixty minutes to ascertain whether he was the individual wanted for attempted burglary fell within the bounds of a permissible investigatory stop.
I. BACKGROUND
On July 4, 1999, around 6:15 p.m., Jessica Morales called 911 to report that her father was trying to break into her house at 4357 Melbourne Ave., Los Angeles. Morales told police she had obtained a restraining order against her father, whom she described as a Hispanic male wearing…
Dissenting Opinion
Rawlinson, J.
Dissenting:
I agree with the majority that in deciding whether police conduct constitutes an investigatory stop or an arrest, we evaluate the intrusiveness of the stop and the reasonableness of the methods used in the specific circumstances. Washington v. Lambert, 98 F.3d 1181, 1185 (9th Cir.1996). However, we part company on whether the methods used in the specific circumstances of this case were reasonable.
In assessing the reasonableness of the officers’ actions, “[t]he critical inquiry is whether the officers diligently pursued a means of investigation that was likely to confirm or dispel their suspicions quickly.” United States v. Torres-Sanchez, 83 F.3d 1123, 1129 (9th Cir.1996) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted) (emphasis added).
In seeking to “confirm or dispel their suspicions quickly,” the officers elected to transport Mr. Gallegos to the scene of the reported incident rather than simply: (1) checking his identification to determine if his name matched that of the suspect; (2) questioning Mr. Gallegos regarding the reported incident; or (3) contacting dispatch to obtain additional identifying information regarding the suspect.