It took just seconds for a routine traffic stop on a Texas highway to escalate into a fatal shooting that left 24-year-old Ashtian Barnes bleeding to death in the driver’s seat.
What happened during those seconds and the minutes prior during the April 2016 incident is now central to a Supreme Court case being argued on Wednesday that could make it easier — or harder — to hold police officers accountable for the use of excessive force.
12 regional federal appeals courts are divided, with four embracing a “moment of the threat doctrine” and eight rejecting it. That doctrine addresses how much time can be taken into consideration when police kill people.
Full story: ‘Split-second decision’: Supreme Court returns to the question of police killings