Cop Who Shot and Killed Mentally Ill Man Faces Reinstated Claims

A California police officer who shot and killed a mentally ill man outside a 7-Eleven store will face reinstated claims of negligence, after the Ninth Circuit found a trial court confused the legal standards under the Fourth Amendment and California negligence law.

Officer Eric Esparza’s decision to shoot Dillan Tabares multiple times without warning while he stood unarmed 15 feet away could be found by a jury to be unreasonable, the court said.

Though federal law focuses on the tactical conduct at the time of the shooting, under California law an officer’s pre-shooting decisions can make his later use of ...