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OIS2013.006|JUNE 23, 2013|SAPD 13-17495
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may apply; they are provided by Penal Code sections 196, 197, and 835a. <br />California Penal Code section 196 states that use of deadly force by a public officer is justifiable when necessarily used <br />:,, arresting persons who are "charged with a felony" and who are fleeing from justice or resisting such arrest. Section <br />196 applies both where the suspect in question is "charged with a felony" and where the officer has "reasonable cause" <br />to believe that the person has committed a felony . People v. Kilvington (1894) 104 Cal. 86, 89. The felony must involve <br />violence or the threat of violence. Kortum v. Alkire (1977) 69 Cal.App.3d 325, 333. <br />California Penal Code section 197 provides that use of deadly force by any person is justifiable when used in self- <br />defense or in defense of others. <br />California Penal Code section 835a allows any police officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person to be <br />arrested has committed a felony to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome <br />resistance. The section further provides that a police officer "who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat <br />or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall <br />such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest <br />or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance." As with Penal Code section 196, section 835a only allows use of <br />deadly force by the police officer when the suspect's felony involves violence or the threat of violence . Kortum v. Alkire <br />(1977) 69 Cal.App.3d 325, 333. The Kortum court further held that deadly force against a fleeing felony suspect is <br />justifiable only when the felony "is of the violent variety, i.e., a forcible and atrocious one which threatens death or <br />serious bodily harm, or there are other circumstances which reasonably create a fear of death or serious bodily harm to <br />the officer or to another." Kortum v. Alkire , supra, 69 Cal.App.3d at 333. <br />In addition, Penal Code section 834a requires that if a person has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable care <br />should have knowledge, that he or she is being arrested by a peace officer, that person must refrain from using force or <br />any weapon to resist such arrest. <br />Similarly, the relevant Criminal Jury Instruction as written by the Judicial Council of California and set forth in CALCRIM <br />3470 permits a person being assaulted to defend himself from attack if, as a reasonable person , he had grounds for <br />believing and did believe that bodily injury was about to be inflicted upon him or upon another person. In doing so, such <br />person may immediately use all force and means which he believes to be reasonably necessary and which would <br />appear to a reasonable person , in the same or similar circumstances, to be necessary to defend against that danger <br />and to prevent the injury which appears to be imminent. <br />The law as detailed in CALCRIM 3470 and in well-settled case law therefore permits a person, if confronted by the <br />appearance of danger which arouses in his mind, as a reasonable person, an honest fear and conviction that he or <br />another person is about to suffer bodily injury, to act in self-defense or defense of others upon such appearances, and <br />from such fear and honest convictions. The person's right of self-defense is the same whether the danger is real or <br />merely apparent. People v. Jackson (1965) 233 Cal.App .2d 639, 641 -642. <br />Nevertheless, the above justifications must be interpreted in light of U.S. Supreme Court precedent that limits the right <br />of a police officer to use deadly force . People v. Martin (1985) 168 Cal.App .3d 1111, 1124. The U.S. Supreme Court <br />ruled that a police officer is entitled to use deadly force only when "the officer has probable cause to believe that the <br />suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or others." Tennessee v. Garner (1985) <br />471 U.S. 1, 3. This limitation was, however, subsequently clarified by the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme <br />Court stated that any determination about the reasonabl eness of force used by an officer "must emb ody allowance for <br />the fact that police officers are often forced to make split second judgments-in circumstances that are tense , uncertain , <br />and rapidly evolving." Graham v. Connor (1 989) 490 U.S . 386, 397. Thus , "the reasonableness of a parti cular use of <br />'1 rce must be judged from the pers pective of a reasonable officer on the scene , rather than with the 20/2 0 vision of <br />. ,mdsight." Id . at 396. <br />8
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