Constitutional Law,
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
May 19, 2025
9th Circuit says Oakland officers can be sued in deadly taco truck crash
The divided appellate panel ruled that two Oakland police officers are not entitled to qualified immunity in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a man killed during a high-speed chase. The court rejected the officers' argument that they only intended to harm the fleeing suspect, not bystanders. The ruling allows claims to proceed under the Fourteenth Amendment and sets up a potential precedent on liability for foreseeable third-party injuries.
A sharply divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Friday that two Oakland Police Department officers are not entitled to qualified immunity after their car chase of a man led to him crashing into a taco truck, killing one man, and seriously injuring several other people.
Attorneys for the officers argued that they are entitled to qualified immunity, even though they allegedly fled the scene after the crash and returned later, because they never intended to injure th...
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