To take it in another direction...a guy is holding up a 7-11, and the cops show up...the cops draw down and tell him to drop it...and the guy is holding a gallon of milk, not a gun, and says "I am unlikely to shoot you with this gallon of milk"...and they shoot him.

A bit over the top on the force? Clearly, and there's a ton of room there for a civil suit against the cops...but it doesn't let him off the hook for holding up a 7-11, even if he's pointing a gallon of milk at the clerk.

Using an unreasonable seizuire to retroactively invalidate a reasonable search is not good policy, in my book.

Fish on...

Todd