Other State CO: Brandishing Gun at Home at Intruders -- A Crime?

[RicInOR]

From Hanson v. Larimer County Bd. of County Comm'rs, no. 1:20-cv-00317-RBJ, decided Tuesday by Judge R. Brooke Jackson (D. Colo.):



"On January 8, 2019 [plaintiff Brett Alan] Hanson was in the backyard of his Berthoud, Colorado home … yelling about President Trump's immigration policies. Mr. Hanson's neighbors heard the commotion and filed a noise complaint with police at 5:46 pm. Deputies Baker and Powers arrived at plaintiffs' home at 6:11 pm. When they arrived at plaintiffs' home it was dark outside, the entry gate was closed, and all plaintiffs were inside their home. Most notably, Mr. Hanson was no longer outside making any noise at the time of their arrival."

...

"Rather than identify himself, deputy Powers—believing that Mr. Hanson held a pistol— drew his service revolver and fired five times at Mr. Hanson, who stood in the doorway. While all five bullets missed Mr. Hanson, they went into the plaintiffs' home where both Ms. Walker and Ms. Felt were present."

Noise complaint results in violence -- shots fired -- by police.


"Deputies eventually informed Mr. Hanson that he was not free to leave, and that he was under arrest for felony menacing and second-degree assault on a police officer."
they charged him based on the belief he had a gun (felony menacing)


The judge isn't having it.
" The officers' actions here were out of proportion to the alleged conduct they were investigating, and they placed all members of Mr. Hanson's household as well as themselves in substantial danger.

The Court finds that there is no case directly on point to these facts because the officers' actions are so objectively unreasonable that no other officer would have dared to act in such a way. The Court thus finds that neither Deputy Powers nor Deputy Baker are entitled to qualified immunity at this stage of the litigation…."



---
CO specific law:
"Mr. Hanson was at his home and thought that intruders—who never once identified themselves as police officers—were on his property. Even assuming arguendo that Mr. Hanson had a gun, it is not a crime in the State of Colorado to hold a gun on your property, or to protect your home from intruders."

Read More

 

[titsonritz]

Colorado...playing catch-up to California, New York, etc...sad was a beautiful place.

 

[po18guy]

But the department is so DIVERSE!!! Those shots covered a very diverse landscape. In 31 years, I witnessed a litany of men and women be sworn in who should NEVER have carried badge and gun. The lowering of standards so as to cast the recruit net wider has carried a heavy cost - one that is realized months or even years down the road.

The "battery" of psychological tests on prospective officers is frequently missing (or politically glossing over) some aspect, some indicator as to the recruit's inability to function in areas of plain common sense, if not the law.

Anecdote: One officer had an administratively handled domestic violence case in the military. No way he should ever have been hired. He was fired after continuous mishandling of routine investigations as well as using his badge as life support for his reproductive system. When he tired of one young woman, he turned his attention on her mother.

They are (often intentionally) missing something during the hiring process and that officer's eventual flame-out is both public and often very costly. The deputy's series of decision was idiotic. To think that he drives a 4,000 pound car! Or used to.