Interesting

Interesting lawsuit as reported in this article. It seems our good citizen, Mark Edward Marchiafava was wearing a revolver openly when he was accosted by the police.

Mark Edward Marchiafava claims he was the victim of false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery and unlawful seizure of property.

Marchiafava said Friday afternoon that on Jan. 28 he was in the parking lot at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Gonzales and was wearing an unconcealed blue-steel .357-caliber Magnum in a holster on his right hip.

I was wondering when a case like this would come up.

It seems that the Disturbing the Peace statute used to have a section that made it illegal to "act in any manner that would forseeably alarm the public." That was the statute I used when I got a call and someone was waving a gun around. I never arrested anyone for simply possessing a firearm because that isn't against the law in Louisiana. That "forseeably alarm" section has been repealed, so the public doesn't have a reason to press charges simply because they are alarmed.

However, a whole lot of cops, including myself, was taught under the old statute where if a member of the public could be alarmed a violation had been committed. That isn't so under current law. (If any lawyer is reading this, and you know differently, feel free to correct me.) Under current law in Louisiana, it is not against the law to openly carry a firearm, unless there are other things happening. You can't, for example, carry a firearm into a school without the very real possibility of getting arrested. Schools have been designated Firearm Free Zones in Louisiana. There are some exemptions, but those are generally few.

In Mr. Marchiafava's case, I would love to see a copy of the arrest report. I would especially like to see what they charged him with.

Of course, Mr. Marchiafava is suing their pants off, which is good. Cops need to pay attention to the law. Police administrators also need to stay current on the law. I've been a cop for a long time. It is considered a matter of faith that when a cop does something stupid, he is going to get sued. With the current climate of law enforcement in Louisiana today, it is almost a legal certainty that taking a firearm from a law abiding citizen will get you sued before you finish your report.

It'll be interesting to see how this one turns out. Hat tip to Junior.