During divorce proceedings, Jessica Gonzales, a resident of Castle Rock, Colorado, obtained a restraining order against her husband on June 4, 1999, requiring him to remain at least 100 yards from her and their three daughters except during specified visitation time. On June 22, at approximately 5:15 pm, her husband took possession of the three children in violation of the order. Gonzales called the police at approximately 7:30 pm, 8:30 pm, 10:10 pm, and 12:15 am on June 23, and visited the police station in person at 12:40 am on June 23, 1999. However, since Ms. Gonzales, from time to time, did allow her husband to take the children at various hours, the police took no action, despite the husband’s having called Gonzales prior to her second call to the police and informing her that he had the children with him at an amusement park in Denver, Colorado. At approximately 3:20 am on June 23, 1999, the husband appeared at the Castle Rock police station and instigated a fatal shoot-out with the police. A search of his vehicle revealed the corpses of the three daughters, whom the husband had killed prior to his arrival, and he died afterwards.
[edit]Lower court proceedings
Gonzales filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado against Castle Rock, Colorado, its police department, and the three individual police officers with whom she had spoken under 42 U.S.C. §1983, claiming a Federally-protected property interest in enforcement of the restraining order and alleging “an official policy or custom of failing to respond properly to complaints of restraining order violations.” A motion to dismiss the case was granted, and Gonzales appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected Gonzales’s substantive due process claim but found a procedural due process claim; an en banc rehearing reached the same conclusion. The court also affirmed the finding that the three individual officers had qualified immunity and as such could not be sued.
jimmycruse's Blog
Freedom is not free..There is a price we all must pay
Once we get passed all of the technical terms of this case, I discovered Gonzales did in fact have a “protected property interest in the enforcement of the terms of her restraining order.” The Castle Rock PD deprived her of due process rights because they never took her complaint seriously or even made a attempt to enforce or protect her interests in the restraining order. Had this department aided Mrs. Gonzales the first time she called upon them, no lives would have been lost. The officers in the case are protected and faced no suit. Tell me how fair is that? How can they even sleep at night knowing that their lack of concern caused a major tragedy that will never be forgotten! They say the law is set up to protect us. I say some of the law enforcement departments act when it’s convenient. I pray for peace for the family in this case and that there are better guidelines set forth to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.