Week of April 4, 2023

Person held three days based on mistaken identity on a valid arrest warrant does not have a substantive due process claim for over-detention; case is controlled by Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137 (1979).

Heck bar does not apply when criminal charges were dismissed after entry of a plea that was held in abeyance pending the defendant’s compliance with certain conditions; Heck requires an actual conviction, not its functional equivalent.

Plaintiff’s no contest pleas to aggravated flight and assault on a police officer were not inconsistent with her claim that officers used excessive force when they fired at her after she passed them and they were no longer in danger: “a reasonable use of force—such as when an officer is subject to a direct physical threat—may become unreasonable even seconds later when force persists after the threat has passed.

Police power to declare that an assembly is unlawful and to order individuals to disperse is not limited to situations in which protestors are violating criminal laws; for example, police have authority to insure the free and orderly flow of traffic or to control entry by protestors onto state property not traditionally used as a public forum.