There was no constitutional issue

Bad lawsuit, bad court case.  Officers break into house and shoot and killed without probable cause.  The cops should have been arrested for murder, what they did has nothing to do with being cops.

At issue today in County of Los Angeles v. Mendez was a 2010 incident in which two deputies from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department entered the residence of Angel Mendez and Jennifer Garcia without a search warrant, spotted Mendez holding a BB gun (which he kept on hand to fend off rats), and shot both Mendez and Garcia multiple times in ostensible self-defense. Mendez's right leg was later amputated below the knee as a result of his injuries. Garcia was shot in the back.Mendez and Garcia sued, charging the police with illegal search, illegal seizure, and illegal use of force under the Fourth Amendment. In March 2016, Mendez and Garcia prevailed at the 9th Circuit, which rejected the officers' pleas for qualified immunity and instead held that the two detectives were "liable for the shooting as a foreseeable consequence of their unconstitutional entry even though the shooting itself was not unconstitutionally excessive force under the Fourth Amendment." In other words, Mendez and Garcia prevailed under the provocation doctrine.

No, this is complete horsehit.

The cops perfectly understood that breaking into a house prepared for a gun battle is illegal, don';t matter if you are a cop or school teacher. The normal rule is that an illegal search may reveal information about a crime, and that information cannot be ignored.  The illegal search did not reveal a crime, both home owners perfectly innocent.  Thus, the subsequent action by the cops was unjustified. TYhis was he same as if the cops ran a red light, without siren, and killed a bicyclist.

Strictly badly handled all around.   There is no constitutional provision that allows this act to be decriminalized.  The Supremes likely ruled against the suit because it was badly handled. It was, straight up, involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary because there was no intent, just illegal recklessness.  Why no intent? Cops are expected to pull their guns and use them, just like cops are expected to drive cars.  But they are not relieved of the burden of involuntary manslaughter.

Where was Sotomayor?