Justices to Rule on Police Liability in High-Speed Chases

WASHINGTON — Agreeing to hear an appeal from California law enforcement officials, the Supreme Court announced Monday that it will rule on whether police who pursue vehicles at high speeds can be held liable if the suspects are injured or killed.

The decision, due early next year, probably will determine the future of high-speed police pursuits.

In a sharply disputed ruling, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in October that police could be forced to pay damages if officers showed a “reckless disregard” for the fleeing suspect’s life and safety when they undertook the chase.

The ruling cleared the way for a trial against a Sacramento officer who in 1990 pursued two youths on a speeding motorcycle. When a 16-year-old fell from the motorcycle on a sharp turn, he was run over by the police car. His parents then sued Officer James E. Smith for damages, alleging that he violated their son’s constitutional rights.

While many federal courts have shielded police from such claims, the 9th Circuit said “any reasonable officer” would know that such high-speed pursuits are dangerous. A jury must decide whether Smith showed a “deliberate indifference or reckless disregard” for the boy’s life when he undertook the chase, the appeals court said.

In an unusual move, lawyers for the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and for San Diego and Riverside counties, along with California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, joined Sacramento County in urging the justices to intervene and reverse the appeals court decision.

They said the ruling would allow dangerous criminals to flee with impunity and in fact would encourage them to speed away from officers.

“Those who flee lawful authority in a dangerous and reckless manner generally do so because they have committed serious crimes,” they argued.

Between 1994 and 1996, the Los Angeles Police Department said its officers engaged in 2,200 vehicular pursuits. Statewide, more than 5,000 such pursuits occurred in 1994, state officials said.

“For better or worse, police pursuits . . . have become a fixture of everyday police practice,” they said.

However, a lawyer for the family of the 16-year-old who died said the case shows the need to restrict high-speed pursuits.

“The statistics on high-speed chases are appalling. The police are killing people under the rubric of apprehending criminals,” said Paul J. Hedlund, a Los Angeles lawyer for the parents of Philip Lewis, the deceased youth. “These people mostly haven’t done anything serious, but they panic and flee.”

He said the two youths had been in some trouble earlier and were not supposed to be together. As a result, when they came upon a police car on the evening of May 22, 1990, they sped away on a Sacramento street. Smith pursued the motorcycle at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.

“This is not a case in which officers were pursuing dangerous felons,” wrote Judge Harry Pregerson of the 9th Circuit Court. His opinion established the law for the nine-state Western region.

In urging the justices to review the matter, lawyers for the police departments argued that officers often do not know in advance whether the fleeing suspects are dangerous criminals or simply scared youths. Therefore, they said, jurors should not be allowed to second-guess an officer’s decision long after the fact.

The justices will hear arguments in the case (Sacramento County vs. Lewis 96-1337) in the fall.