Joyriding Cop Held Liable for Killing Driver

Federal appeals court says a joyriding police officer can be held liable for his red light running crash.

Some police officers see their “thin blue line” immunity from traffic tickets as a perk that comes with the job. It is not uncommon to see squad cars momentarily turn on their flashing lights to speed through a red light, only to have the lights turned off once they make it to the other side. On February 10, 2013, Albuquerque Police Sergeant Adam Casaus did not make it to the other side.

On Tuesday, the Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled that Casaus will not enjoy any immunity for the conduct resulting in his police SUV slamming into another vehicle, killing Ashley Browder, 21, and gravely injuring her sister Lindsay. Though charged with felony

“We don’t doubt the Browders have stated a plausible claim for relief,” Judge Gorsuch wrote. “Indeed and again, we do not doubt that, when an officer uses his emergency lights on his business and not the public’s and goes racing through traffic lights, a reasonable jury could conclude that his conduct amounts to an abuse of power; a demand that others get out of his way so he might pursue his personal business before they might pursue theirs.”

In an unusual move, Judge Gorsuch wrote a separate concurring opinion to express his personal preference that state, not federal, courts handle such cases.

The decision is available in a 50k PDF file at the source link below.

Source: Browder v. Albuquerque (US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 6/2/2015)

Reprinted from TheNewspaper.com.