Ward

MEMORANDUM

Patricia Ward appeals the district court’s judgment as a matter of law that the Los Angeles police did not unlawfully detain nor use excessive force against her. The facts and prior proceedings are known to the parties, and are restated herein only as necessary.

*343 I

A suspect is arrested if a reasonable person in her position would conclude that she is not free to leave after brief questioning. United States v. Del Vizo, 918 F.2d 821, 824 (9th Cir.1990). The difference between an arrest and a stop is one of degree and is dependent upon the “totality of the circumstances”: specifically, the intrusiveness of the stop, how much the plaintiffs liberty was restricted, and the reasonableness of the methods used by the police officers under the circumstances. Washington v. Lambert, 98 F.3d 1181, 1185 (9th Cir.1996). This is a balancing test weighing the interests of individuals to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures against the legitimate public interest in protecting the safety of the police officers. See id. at 1186 . “It is because we consider both the inherent danger of the situation and the intrusiveness of the police action, that pointing a weapon at a…