United States v. Reese

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted appellants of federal civil rights crimes stemming from their actions as Oakland Housing Authority police officers. Their appeals raise a number of difficult questions, among them certain matters of first impression. We are required to decide what the government must prove to convict a law enforcement officer of depriving an individual of his federal constitutional right to be free of excessive force during detention or arrest. We also must decide whether crimi*874nal liability may be imposed on a commanding police officer who fails to prevent the use…