By Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- In 2011, on November 2nd, The Lincoln City Police Department received a call about a young man displaying a firearm in an Astro van outside of a convenience store. The call lead to the felony stop of an Astro van about 4 hours later.

In the van was 58-year-old black pastor who was a double amputee. The officers forced the pastor, Leroy Duffie, to exit the van with his hands held up, after he had told them that he could not do so because of his disability.

At gunpoint, Duffie opened his door, and twisted his body in an attempt to comply. He then fell face forward to the pavement, suffering significant injuries including loss of two teeth and a torn rotator cup.

Duffie sued the police department for depriving him of his constitutional rights, of using excessive force, searching his van without his consent, and placing him in danger of physical harm without due process.

The trial court granted qualified immunity to the officers and granted summary judgment against Duffie on all counts. Duffie appealed to the Eight Circuit.

The Eighth Circuit, on 23 August, 2016 reversed the trial court decision, finding that police did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Duffie, because the open carry of handguns is legal under the law in Nebraska. The Court referred to open carry as a right. On March 30th, 2017, Duffie and the City of Lincoln reached a settlement, with Duffie receiving $160,000.

From journalstar.com:

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August reversed that decision and ruled Officers Nathan Kaiser, Tobias Hite and Shane Jensen violated his Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The judges took issue with the reason for the stop, saying a report of a person with a handgun isn't enough to create a reasonable suspicion of a crime, and in Nebraska and Lincoln people can openly carry handguns.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.