Police shooting case will go to a jury

This case involves the use of deadly force to apprehend a fleeing motorist. The motorist was shot and killed by a Connecticut police officer. The decedent's family sues the officer for wrongful death, and the case will proceed to trial because the record does not conclusively show that the officer had cause to shoot the driver.

The case is Vega-Colon v. Eulizier, a summary order issued on July 8. After a different officer had reason to believe the driver was using unauthorized license plates, Eulizier approached the driver on foot. The following facts seem to be undisputed, at least in part based on video footage:

the parties dispute whether Eulizier intentionally blocked the road in front of the Infiniti, but soon after Eulizier performed this maneuver, Vega-Cruz lost control of the Infiniti and came to a stop. Eulizier then hit the front of the Infiniti with his vehicle, blocking it on the side of the road. He then exited his vehicle and drew his gun, yelling “show me your hands.” The Infiniti had begun to reverse in the direction of the road when [Officer] Salvatore arrived; Salvatore collided with the left side of the Infiniti. Eulizier, on foot, came around the front of Salvatore’s vehicle and stood near the front driver’s side of the Infiniti.

The dispute arises from what happened next. Did Eulizier intentionally step in front of the Infinity or merely move himself there? What we do know is this officer fired two shots into the windshield, killing Vega-Cruz. As the trial judge noted in denying this officer's motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, “[t]he parties dispute . . . the series of events leading up to [Eulizier’s] approach—specifically, whether he intentionally stepped in front of the vehicle or whether it was happenstance that as he came around Salvatore’s vehicle, he ‘found himself’ near the front of the Vega-Cruz vehicle.” The parties also dispute whether Vega-Cruz was moving his car slowly and was turning away from Eulizier, trying to avoid him as he tried to flee the scene. Eulizier says the driver accelerated towards him and he therefore shot the driver out of necessity.

These factual disputes cannot be resolved on a summary judgment motion. The jury will have to decide whether the officer reasonably fired into the car to protect himself, or whether firing the gun was excessive because the driver was trying to get away on his own. The law is clear that you cannot use deadly force to apprehend a fleeing motorist unless the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to anyone, including the officer. 

The Court of Appeals (Bianco, Robinson and Merriam) finds that the jury must resolve these factual disputes. It also finds that if the jury credits the factual arguments advanced by Vega-Cruz's representatives at trial, it could also find that the officer violated clearly-established law and cannot invoke qualified immunity. But a win for the family in the Second Circuit does not automatically translate into a win for the family at trial. As the Court of Appeals notes, "the split-second nature of the decision to use force is a relevant and often important factor in assessing the objective reasonableness of the use of force and the parameters of qualified immunity in excessive force cases."