Sansonetti Vs. City of St. Joseph

On December 13, 1993, Officers Till and Ogdahl of the St. Joseph Police Department were dispatched to a residence to investigate a report of a break-in involving Sabas Hernandez-Gonzalez and another man. As the officers approached the two men, Gonzalez fled in his care and Officer Till pursued him in his patrol car with his red emergency lights and siren on. During the pursuit, Gonzalez ran a stop sign, drove at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour, and finally crashed into the living room of Sharon Sansonetti. Mr. Gonzalez was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle among others. A resident of the home, Mary Matthews was physically injured in the crash.

ISSUE

Did the trial court err in finding no proximate cause to find Officer Till and the City of St. Joseph liable for injuries sustained by the plaintiffs due to negligence from violation of §304.022, RSMO regulating police pursuits?

HOLDING

The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of Officer Till and the City of St. Joseph. The officer was not found to be negligent in pursuing Mr. Gonzalez because he was not the proximate cause of the accident. In order to establish negligence by the officer the plaintiffs must prove that a legal duty to the plaintiff existed, that duty was breached, that the breach was the proximate cause of the injury, and that there was an injury sustained. Since Officer Till was not found to the proximate cause of the accident that caused the plaintiff's injury, no negligence can be established.

REASONING

The Missouri Court of Appeals reasoned that Officer Till's actions were not the proximate cause of the accident. The court found that a law enforcement officer's pursuit of a person who is driving a vehicle and who is suspected of having committed a crime is not a negligent act. Also, the occurrence of a vehicular accident by the person being pursued is not, by itself, proof that the pursuing officer was negligent. The proximate cause of the accident was not the manner in which Officer Till operated his police vehicle but rather the manner in which Mr. Gonzalez drove the pursued vehicle. The plaintiffs did not provide evidence that the officer violated section 304.022 or another statute or regulation. The City of St. Joseph was not found liable because under respondeat superior, the employer must be exonerated of liability when the employee is.

DISPOSITION

The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the trial courts decision that granted Officer Till and the City of Saint Joseph summary judgment based on lack of proximate cause.

OPINION

I agree with the trial court and the appeals court ruling this case. Officer Till could not be positively determined as the proximate cause of the injuries. This would mean that the plaintiffs would have to prove that had Officer Till not pursued Mr. Gonzalez he never would have crashed into the house. I don't believe that they proved that in this case. The court also raised an important point that not all pursuits that end in an accident are the fault of the officer involved. Since the suspect fled in this case at the officer's mere approach, it is possible that he would have continued to drive at those high speeds had the officer not continued pursuit, especially considering that Mr. Gonzalez was intoxicated