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Jairo Acosta, Police Officer for the City of Los Banos v. Tan Lam, as Successor-in-Interest to Decedent Sonny Lam, aka Son Tung Lam

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 18-17404 · judgment September 25, 2020

Certiorari denied · October 4, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

  1. Is it plain error to admit evidence of a police officer’s remote PTSD diagnosis to challenge the officer’s credibility and prove he was more likely to have acted unreasonably in his use of force where there is no evidence the officer suffered from or experienced any symptoms of PTSD at the time of the incident?

  2. If a suspect has stabbed an officer, been shot and wounded by the officer, dropped his weapon and continued to advance on the officer in a confined and unfamiliar space, all within a matter of seconds, does clearly established law put every reasonable officer on notice that the suspect no longer poses an immediate threat and prohibit the officer from firing a second shot to subdue the suspect?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Suzanne Michelle Nicholson
Suzanne M. Nicholson Attorney at Law

For respondent
Ayana Cuevas Curry
Law Offices of John L. Burris

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Oct 04 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 18 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
  3. Aug 17 2021
    Reply of petitioner Jairo Acosta, Police Officer for the City of Los Banos filed. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  4. Aug 02 2021
    Brief of respondent Tan Lam, as Successor-in-Interest to decedent Sonny Lam (aka Son Tung Lam) in opposition filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  5. May 21 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted in part and the time is extended to and including August 2, 2021.
  6. May 20 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 17, 2021 to August 16, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  7. May 18 2021
    Response Requested. (Due June 17, 2021)
  8. May 11 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/27/2021.
  9. May 03 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Tan Lam, as Successor-in-Interest to decedent Sonny Lam (aka Son Tung Lam) to respond filed.
    Main Document
  10. Apr 15 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 19, 2021)
    PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service