On Thursday a unanimous Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a $148,000 bench trial verdict against the City Jackson in a Tort Claims Act case stemming from traffic accident caused by a police officer responding to a report of a man lying injured on a street. Here is the Court’s opinion, which Justice Dickinson authored.

The accident occurred at the five points intersection on Woodrow Wilson Drive in Jackson. The officer entered the intersection with lights, siren and buzzer all on. The officer clipped a vehicle driven by the plaintiff, causing plaintiff’s vehicle to roll-over. The plaintiff had the right away and did not see or hear the police car due to an obstructed view and the fact that her radio was turned up.

Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger ruled that the police officer’s conduct exhibited reckless disregard for the safety of others and awarded the plaintiff over $148,000 in damages. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court.

The Supreme Court granted cert. and reversed the Court of Appeals and trial court. The Court noted that the reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of others standard sets an “extremely high bar for plaintiff seeking to recover against a city for a police officer’s conduct while engaged in the performance of his or her duties. The City is immune from liability for acts of negligence, and even gross negligence is not enough.”

The Court found that there was no evidence that the officer acted in reckless disregard for the safety of others. As a result, the Court reversed and rendered judgment in favor of the City.

This was a huge win for the City of Jackson and its legal department, headed by City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen. There have been several verdicts against the City in police pursuit cases in the last few years and the City is appealing all of them. I discussed earlier verdicts here and here.

The other verdicts involved wrecks caused by suspects running from the police in high speed chases. If this case where the officer actually caused the wreck did not meet the reckless disregard standard, it is hard to imagine how the standard is met in cases where the wrecks were caused by criminal suspects running from the police. The City has to feel good about its prospects in the appeals of the other cases.