U.S. Marshals use of deadly force at issue (2015)

In January 2012, Jimmy Georgeson had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. When cornered by U.S. Marshals, however, Georgeson tried to run away. At one point, he rammed the car he was driving into U.S. Marshals cruisers. In the parking of the West Medford Albertsons, the Marshals opened fire as Georgeson attempted to drive away. Georgeson was hit and killed. He was just 20 years old.

Georgeson's family brought a wrongful death suit against the U.S. government. The government filed a motion to dismiss, which U.S. District Court JudgeRobert Whaley granted in part and denied in part. The family argued that the Marshals should not have attempted to arrest Georgeson in a crowded parking lot as it violated the Marshals' own policies. The judge, however, found that the policy was not mandatory. At best, Judge Whaley said the Marshals' decision to attempt to arrest Georgeson in a parking lot of a grocery store was negligent. Unfortunately for the family, negligence is not a consideration in claims against the government in these types of cases. Because the policy of avoiding crowded areas when making arrests was not mandatory, the Marshals acted within their discretion, and this portion of the family's lawsuit was dismissed.

The family also argued that the Marshals acted wrongly when using deadly force in an effort to stop Georgeson from fleeing. The Marshals claimed that Georgeson used his vehicle as a weapon, allowing them to respond with force. Judge Whaley said that the Marshals have a mandatory policy of not using deadly force when a suspect is fleeing.

“	The policy of the U.S. Marshals is to use the least amount of force necessary to handle the situation.[4]	”
—Judge Robert Whaley[5]

The only time officers can use deadly force against a suspect is when they are imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, or the suspect poses such a danger to others. Judge Whaley ordered that his portion of the family's case go forward.

Judge Whaley's full written opinion is availablehere.

Articles:

• KOBI5, "Federal judge issues order in 2012 officer-involved shooting," April 8, 2015
• KVAL, "'Jimmy was no angel by any means. He didn't deserve to be shot'," January 10, 2012</ref>

See also

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

External links

• FJC, "Judge Whaley's Biography"

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Justin Quackenbush	Eastern District of Washington 1995–2009 Seat #1	Succeeded by: Thomas Rice

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Active judges	Chief Judge: Stanley Bastian  •  Thomas Rice  •  Mary Dimke  •  Rebecca Pennell
Senior judges	Robert Whaley  •  William Nielsen  •  Edward Shea  •  Lonny Suko  •  Rosanna Peterson  •
Magistrate judges	James Goeke  •
Former Article III judges	Edward Whitson  •  Frank Rudkin  •  John Stanley Webster  •  Justin Quackenbush  •  Frederick Van Sickle  •  Lloyd Black  •  Samuel Driver  •  William Goodwin  •  William Lindberg  •  Alan McDonald  •  Robert McNichols  •  Marshall Neill  •  Charles Powell  •  Lewis Schwellenbach  •  Jack Tanner  •  Sal Mendoza, Jr. (Washington)  •
Former Chief judges	Robert Whaley  •  Justin Quackenbush  •  William Nielsen  •  Frederick Van Sickle  •  Lonny Suko  •  Samuel Driver  •  William Goodwin  •  Robert McNichols  •  Marshall Neill  •  Charles Powell  •  Rosanna Peterson  •  Thomas Rice  •

v • e Federal judges nominated byBill Clinton
1993	Adams •Ambrose •Barnes •Brinkema •Bucklew •Chasanow •Coffman •Daughtrey •Ferguson •Ginsburg •Hagen •Jackson •Lancaster •Leval •Lindsay •Messitte •Michael •Piersol •Saris •Schwartz •Seybert •Shanahan •Shaw •Stearns •Trager •Vazquez •Wilken •Wilson
1994	Baer •Barkett •Batts •Beaty •Benavides •Bennett •Berrigan •Biery •Block •Borman •Breyer •Briones •Bryson •Bucklo •Burgess •Burrage •Cabranes •Calabresi •Carr •Casellas •Castillo •Chatigny •Chin •Cindrich •Coar •Collins •Cooper •Cote •Currie •Davis •Dominguez •Downes •Duval •Friedman •Furgeson •Garcia •Gertner •Gettleman •Gillmor •Gilmore •Gleeson •Haggerty •Hamilton •Hannah •Hawkins •Henry •Holmes •Hood •Hull •Hurley •Jack •Jones •Jones •Kaplan •Katz •Kern •Kessler •Koeltl •Lisi •Manning •McKee •McLaughlin •Melancon •Miles-LaGrange •Moore •Motz •Murphy •O'Malley •O'Meara •Oliver •Paez •B. Parker •F. Parker •R. Parker •Perry •Ponsor •Pooler •Porteous •Rendell • Riley •Robertson •Rogers •Ross •Russell •Sands •Sarokin •Scheindlin •Silver •Squatrito •Stewart •Sullivan •Tatel •Thompson •Timlin •Urbina •Vanaskie •Vance •Walls •Wells •Williams
1995	Arterton •Atlas •Black •Blake •Briscoe •Tena Campbell •Todd Campbell •Chesney •Cole •Collier •Daniel •Davis •Dennis •Dlott •Donald •Duffy •Economus •Evans •Fallon •Folsom •Gaughan •Goodwin •Heartfield •Hunt •Illston •Jones •King •Kornmann •Lawson •Lenard •Lucero •Lynch •McKinley •Moody •Moore •Moskowitz •Murphy •Murtha •Nugent •O'Toole •Orlofsky •Pogue •Sessions •C. Smith •O. Smith •Stein •Thornburg •Tunheim •Wallach •Wardlaw •Webber •Whaley •Winmill • Wood
1996	Broadwater •Clevert •Fenner •Gershon •Gottschall •Greenaway •Hinkle •Jones •Kahn •Laughrey •Lemmon •Marten •Miller •Molloy •Montgomery •Pregerson •Rakoff •Sargus •Tashima •Thomas •Zapata
1997	Adelman •Bataillon •Breyer •Caputo •Casey •Chambers •Clay •Damrell •Droney •Friedman •Gajarsa •Garland •Gilman •Gold •Gwin •Hall •Hayden •Hull •Ishii •Jenkins •Kauffman •Kennedy •Kimball •Kollar-Kotelly •Lazzara •Marbley •Marcus •Middlebrooks •Miller •Moon •Pratt •Rendell •Sippel •Siragusa •Snyder •Thrash
1998	Aiken •Barbier •Barzilay •Berman •Buttram •Carter •Collins •Dawson •Dimitrouleas •Fletcher •Fogel •Frank •Graber •Hellerstein •Herndon •James •Johnson •Kane •Kelly •G. King •R. King •Lasnik •Lee •Lemelle •Lindsay •Lipez •Manella •Matz •McCuskey •McKeown •McMahon •Mickle •Mollway •Mordue •Moreno •Morrow •Munley •Murphy •Pallmeyer •Pauley •Polster •Pooler •Rawlinson •Ridgway •R. Roberts •V. Roberts •Sack •Scott •Seitz •Seymour •Shea •Silverman •Sleet •Sotomayor •Steeh •Story •Straub •Tagle •Tarnow •Trauger •Traxler •Tyson •Wardlaw •Whelan •Young
1999	Alsup •Barry •Brown •Buchwald •Cooper •Eaton •Ellison •Feess •Fisher •Gould •Guzman •Haynes •Hibbler •Hochberg •Hurd •Huvelle •Jordan •Katzmann •Kennelly •Linn •Lorenz •Lynn •Marrero •Murguia •Pannell •Pechman •Pepper •Phillips •Schreier •Stewart •Underhill •Ward •Williams •Wilson
2000	Ambro •Antoon •Battani •Berzon •Bolton •Brady •Bye •Cavanaugh •Daniels •Darrah •Dawson •Dyk •Fuentes •Garaufis •Garcia-Gregory •Hamilton •Huck •Hunt •Lawson •Lefkow •Lynch •Martin •McLaughlin •Moody •Murguia •Paez •Pisano •Presnell •Rawlinson •Reagan •Schiller •Singal •Steele •Surrick •Swain •Tallman •Teilborg •Tucker •Whittemore

Categories:

• Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
• Appointed by Bill Clinton
• Appointed by William J. Clinton
• Confirmed 1995
• Federal Article III judges
• Federal judiciary nominee, May 1995
• Judge on senior status, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
• Senior federal judge
• Washington
• Eastern District of Washington, Seat 1
• Judge on senior status, Eastern District of Washington
• Marine veteran
• Former chief judge, Eastern District of Washington