The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and the Use of Deadly Force

• Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and the Use of Deadly Force
• Fourteenth Amendment and “Shocking the Conscience"
• Fourteenth Amendment vs. Fourth Amendment Excessive Force Lawsuits

Proving a Fourteenth Amendment due process violation in an excessive use of force case requires proof that the officers’ actions “shocked the conscience.”  While “shocking the conscience” is a necessary element of an alleged Fourteenth Amendment violation, it is not an element of a Fourth Amendment excessive force violation.  However, a decedent’s Fourth Amendment rights, where it is alleged that excessive force was used against a decedent, are personal rights which may not be vicariously asserted by the decedent’s relatives. 

Mesa (Arizona) police got a 911 call from a woman who reported that her ex-boyfriend, Sergio Ochoa, had just left her home after they’d had a fight.  She further reported that a handgun had been involved and that Ochoa was strung out on drugs; methamphetamine and possibly heroin.  She also indicated that he had outstanding arrest warrants.  Eight minutes later, the Mesa Police got another 911 call from a resident who lived nearby the earlier caller, complaining that a man had entered his home without permission.  This caller indicated that the man was armed with two knives and was complaining that his girlfriend had just stabbed him.  The intruder left this residence driving a car that matched the description of the car obtained from the ex-girlfriend in the earlier ....