Supreme Court appears to favor police sued over chase

WASHINGTON — Aided by video captured by dashboard cameras in police cruisers, Supreme Court justices on Tuesday seemed poised to rule for police officers involved in a high-speed chase that ended with the deaths of the fleeing driver and his passenger.

No one on the court appeared willing to affirm an appeals court ruling allowing a civil lawsuit by the driver’s daughter to proceed against six West Memphis, Ark., police officers. They fatally shot driver Donald Rickard and passenger Kelly Allen in 2004 in a chaotic scene on a Memphis street following a chase that began across the Mississippi River in Arkansas.

The lawsuit says police used excessive force. But several justices said the officers may not have done anything wrong or at least should be shielded from liability.

The justices don’t often question the facts that underlie the lower court rulings that are at issue before them.

But for the second time in recent years, police video of a car chase seemed to make at least some justices more willing to do their own fact-finding. Police fired 15 shots into Rickard’s car, of which 12 came after Rickard managed to begin driving away from officers who had surrounded the vehicle.

“I mean, when I look at the film, I thought well, sure, he’s going back to the highway. You say we want to show that the policeman knew he wasn’t. I didn’t see any evidence showing that,” Justice Stephen Breyer told Gary Smith, the lawyer for Rickard’s daughter.

The video involved in the case was not shown in the courtroom on Tuesday, but justices had seen it as part of filings with the court.

In 2007, the court voted in a case from Georgia that police may use tactics that put fleeing suspects at risk of death in order to end high-speed car chases. In that case, Justice Antonin Scalia chastised an appeals court panel for its ruling in favor of the driver, who was paralyzed after police bumped his car and forced it off the road. The driver’s “version of events is so utterly discredited by the record that no reasonable jury could have believed him. The Court of Appeals should not have relied on such visible fiction; it should have viewed the facts in the light depicted by the videotape,” Scalia said.

On that court, only Justice John Paul Stevens, then 87 and the longest-serving justice, said he wasn’t especially frightened by the chase and would have sided with the driver.

Scalia, 77, is now in Stevens’ place as the longest-serving member of the court and he left no doubt Tuesday about his view of Rickard’s actions. “This guy has been driving on the highway at 100 miles an hour, swerving into and away from police cars,” Scalia said.

Even when surrounded, Scalia said, “The car is still trying to escape. The car is not stopped and, you know, the driver with his hands up. The car is still trying to get out of this encirclement by the other police cars, right?”

Smith tried to answer: “That…”

Scalia continued, “Is he trying to get away at that point or not?”

Smith said it’s not clear from the video.

Justice Anthony Kennedy chimed in, “What do you mean? He is going to the police station?”

Smith replied, “Well, we don’t know. He wasn’t given the opportunity.”

Earlier in the argument, Kennedy raised one question about the police response that appeared to trouble other justices as well.

“What effect, if any, do you give to the fact that there was a passenger in the car, a passenger who apparently was not involved in any illegal activity?” Kennedy asked Michael Mosley, the lawyer for the police.

“The passenger did not make Mr. Rickard less dangerous,” Mosley said,

True, Kennedy said, “but it makes the police reaction more dangerous.”

The court could resolve the case by deciding the officers did not violate Rickard’s rights or they could say that the law involving police chase and use of lethal force was not clear at the time of the incident, meaning the officers could not be held liable for their actions.

A decision in Plumhoff v. Rickard, 12-1117, is expected by late June.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.