A Jefferson County SWAT officer did not violate a Golden man’s constitutional rights by shooting him in the stomach as he was following commands to open the door, a federal judge ruled last month.
Law enforcement was executing arrest warrants at 19 different locations the morning of Nov. 7, 2019, against members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club for assault, kidnapping, and other alleged felonies. After officers failed to breach Dustin J. Ullerich’s door with a battering ram, then-sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Brown fired his breaching shotgun just as Ullerich opened the door.
After sustaining serious injuries, Ullerich sued for a violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. Brown invoked qualified immunity, which is a judicially created doctrine that shields government employees from civil lawsuits unless they violate a person’s clear legal rights as recognized through prior court decisions…