U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito blasts 9th Circuit in San Jose police shooting case

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CALIFORNIA
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito blasts 9th Circuit in San Jose police shooting case

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Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. pauses after swearing in Mark Esper as Defense secretary during a ceremony with President Trump in the Oval Office in 2019. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

By Sonja Sharp
Staff Writer
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Feb. 27, 2025 3 AM PT

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. slammed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week over its handling of a California police shooting case, calling lower courts’ decision to award damages to the victim’s widow and children “a flagrant error.”

“The courts below badly fumbled this basic tenet of our qualified immunity doctrine” by relying in part on a 2022 appellate decision to rule the officer was not shielded from liability in the 2017 shooting, Alito wrote, dissenting in the Supreme Court’s decision to not take the case.

Jacob Dominguez was unarmed and complying with officers’ instructions when San Jose Police Sgt. Michael Pina shot and killed him during a traffic stop in 2017. His head, shoulders and left arm were above the frame of the driver’s side door when he was shot. Police were attempting to arrest him for a gas station robbery, according to civil court records, and there was no evidence he was armed during the incident.

Dominguez’s widow sued Pina and the department, winning $1 million in damages in 2023 after a federal civil jury found the officer had used excessive force. … Pina’s lawyers argued that he and the San Jose Police Department were protected under qualified immunity, a legal principle that shields government officials from most civil suits.

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[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Dear Sam

You're long overdue for your dirt nap.