WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sided with police officers Tuesday who were sued over a high-speed chase that ended with the deaths of the fleeing driver and his passenger.
The court was unanimous in holding that the officers who fatally shot driver Donald Rickard did not violate the violate Rickard's constitutional rights.
The ruling Tuesday reversed a lower court decision that allowed the lawsuit to go forward against six West Memphis police officers.
They shot Rickard and passenger Kelly Allen in 2004 in a chaotic scene on a Memphis street after a chase, captured on video, which began across the Mississippi River in Arkansas. A police officer pulled over Rickard's white Honda because a headlight was out. Rickard sped away when the officer asked him to get out of the car.
Several justices said during arguments in March that they had watched the video and gotten a better understanding of the danger facing the police. 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.
Writing for the court Tuesday, Justice Samuel Alito discussed the chase in detail before concluding that "it is beyond serious dispute that Rickard's flight posed a grave public safety risk, and ... the police acted reasonably in using deadly force to end that risk."
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Rickard's relatives.
The case is Plumhoff v. Rickard, 12-1117.