Handcuffed on Train Tracks | Qualified Immunity? – Everything Law and Order Blog

By now we’ve all seen the footage of the train in Colorado hitting the police car stopped on the tracks, severely injuring a woman in police custody who was placed handcuffed in the rear of the police cruiser. My immediate thought was qualified immunity. There can be no doubt that the police officer was directly at fault in causing the severe injuries to the woman in his custody. No doubt about it. But unlike a doctor who negligently injures someone, a police officer get to assert qualified immunity.

Qualified immunity is unfair and needs to be abolished. A lawyer representing this woman, if a lawsuit is filed, is going to have the legal requirement to point to some past clearly established case law describing the officer’s conduct as a civil rights violation. Well, how many cases have there been in any particular jurisdiction where police officers let people in their custody get hit by trains? Moreover, as I’ve explained before, to establish section 1983 liability, you have to allege intentional conduct – not negligence or incompetence. Some intentional or purposeful conduct. For this reason, when one police officer accidentally shoots their partner, there’s generally no liability. I did a video on that one already.

I took a quick look at the case law in the jurisdiction where this train incident happened, which is Colorado, which is in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. So that’s where you want to look first for federal civil rights case law. I have a theory of liability here. First, take a look at some of the new footage released, from another angle.

Abandoned on Train Tracks by Police | Qualified Immunity? | State-Created Danger Theory

Video to submit? https://forms.gle/HmwnDQKvwvYPxe967

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnbryanesq

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnBryanLaw

FAIR USE NOTICE This video may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for the purposes of criticism, comment, review and news reporting which constitute the fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, review and news reporting is not an infringement of copyright.

NOTE: We don’t condone threats or violence of any kind. If you are upset or outraged by acts of government misconduct featured in this video, we encourage you to utilize lawful means of expression, including becoming involved in the political process, as well as seeking accountability through the judicial system.

source

44 thoughts on “Handcuffed on Train Tracks | Qualified Immunity?”
  1. Electricians, Plumbers and HVAC contractors all must carry Liability on Auto, Liability on the property we work on and a bond for the City if we harm under ground electric wire, or city gas lines. A van cost about $300 a month I have 7 vans so 2100.00 a month. Must carry 2 million Liability policy for customer property. I case we blow up a building. Errors and Omission Insurance just in case we installed the equipment not to site plans. I bet lawyers must carry this insurance also. Plus we pay insurance for the building we work out of. Then we get customers after we diagnose the part that cost me $25.00 and 1 hour if part is on the truck. If 2 trips because we dont have the part it's 4 hours for the call. Yes the bill is $500.00 overhead is 35%, labor 30% parts and equipment 25%. Very lucky to make 10% on a repair job. NC just put tax on service (labor) we all ready pay tax on each employee this just started in 2018 then covid then had heart by pass then thief. Now out of business. My number 2 that I trained for 20 years says no he want run it. I am 70 he is 50. Try to get a job teaching at Community College I must be to old. Don't feel sorry for me. I get a SS check each month for $2400.00

  2. I was not aware of the extent of qualified immunity and what i have understood to be something like absolute immunity for judges and some federal employees until i started watching this channel a few days ago. I am shocked to say the least. No wonder so many bad apples keep their jobs and continue to abuse people. BIG PROBLEM!

  3. Why would anyone park a vehicle on any active train tracks? You get out of your vehicle and oh, I’m on train tracks, I will move my vehicle. Not only do you decide not to, you lock a restrained person in that vehicle, again realizing your parked on active train tracks and again decide not to move the vehicle. Ooh!

  4. NO ONE WITH A BRAIN will ever park a vehicle on an active train track.
    No, I do NOT support qualified immunity, as it is judicial abuse, and revictimization of victims of law enforcement abuses. However, until it is abolished, there it is.
    In this case there can't be qualified immunity for qualified stupidity. These two officers (I'm trying really hard to maintain proper protocol) were *so busy trying to nail this poor woman for a crime she may, or may not, have committed, while the train horn blared its arrival.
    IMO, this should be THE case that abolishes qualified immunity.
    Yup, I'm angry…

  5. Bothers me most about it is they were so focused on building a case neither officer knew where the arrested person was. They asked each other "was she in the car?" How long had you been parked on track that you completed forgot where the person you cuffed was at.

  6. Maybe I am missing something here, but what kind of IDIOT parks on a railroad track, let alone puts someone handcuffed in their car without at that time moving said car off the tracks? If for any reason you end up stopped on a railroad track, is it not a normal response to then remove your vehicle from the track as soon as possible? That poor woman! I don't know the story but I bet everything whatever she did was not as STUPID or dangerous as what was done to her.

  7. People that stupid shouldn’t even be allowed to DRIVE, much less carry guns and have the power to (lawfully, or not) ARREST and cage citizens! EVERY decently aware person knows trains run on tracks, and not to impede them! 😒

  8. I don't think in the history of mankind has there been a more incredible act of stupidity. These total jerks should be fired immediately. God almighty how dumb can you possibly be?

  9. Right off the bat, everyone knows it is reckless and extremely dangerous to stop or park on any train track, PERIOD!!! This is well know, and not something that just came about.
    These officers need to be charged with
    1) Destruction of taxpayers property. The officer parking a police vehicle on train tracks. The officer knew the vehicle was PARKED on a train track.
    a) The officer had to walk over the train track getting out of the police vehicle.
    b) The officer, again, had to walk over the train tracks to placing the woman in harms way, in the back of the police vehicle.
    2) Life endangerment, just for placings the woman in a vehicle parked on a train track.
    3) Attempted Murder. They placed a person in a car parked on a train tracks. While they searched the car, the train horn can be heard several moments before the train got to them. They had time to get the woman out of the car before the train hit the car. Neither officer even tried to save the woman nor did they even care. The only thing the officers cared about was searching the woman's vehicle, not the woman's life. (Proof is on the officer's body cameras). They only cared after the fact and to save their butts.
    We do not need case law to know about the danger of being on a train track. It has been known and even shown from the beginning of motion pictures (over 100 years now). That placing a person on a train track where they are unable to get off the track is a method of killing/murdering the person, using the train as the deadly/murder weapon.
    This all shows deliberate and knowing negligence of both officers.

  10. Wow police Sargent assaults suspect with freight train.🤬I would be ashamed if this guy worked in my town at the least
    He should lose his badge and never work for police EVER again .talk about dropping the BALL

  11. I wonder what you think of this but my bigger issue is with prosecutorial immunity. A cop who unlawfully arrests someone would have much more incentive to confirm that they have probable cause if they weren’t sure that prosecutors would protect them by bringing charges calling into question for many, how could a cop know the law and be held liable if the prosecutors, lawyers who’s entire job is to know these laws, didn’t know the law…

  12. these have got to be some of the stupidest people on earth! They should lose their jobs and LEO cert. I can not believe they could hear the train whistle and did not do a F#$KING thing to move the car or remove the person they had in custody!

Leave a Reply