In Demuth v. County, published August 14, 2015, the 9th Circuit reversed in part a district court's decision, after a bench trial, that a courtroom deputy sheriff was entitled to qualified immunity for briefly arresting a public defender and bringing her to court. The public defender had a hearing in the courtroom for one of her clients that day, although it was not for a specific time. She appeared in court, and then went to her office in the building to work. The presiding referee asked the courtroom deputy sheriff to page the public defender. He tried several times without success. The referee told the deputy that she ordered the public defender to come to the courtroom, and that, if she refused, the public defender's supervisor would have to come in and explain. The deputy went to the office suite and told the public defender to come to court. The public defender replied that if he wanted her to come right now, he would have to arrest her. He arrested her and led her to the courtroom, releasing her after 11 minutes.
The panel concluded that qualified immunity was not appropriate, because the deputy could not reasonably believe he had grounds for a warrantless arrest, and no reasonable officer could have understood the referee as ordering that the public defender be forcibly brought to court. Further, no reasonable officer could have understood the public defender's statement as anything other than a snide way of refusing to come.
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