Since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 ended a plaintiff’s federal claims against a Coweta County officer involved in a car chase, the federal appeals court that covers the state has been largely unreceptive to civil claims alleging lethal force by police on suspects. But an opinion released last week by the state Court of Appeals shows that so-called innocent bystanders who are injured when police and suspects clash can have some success getting their claims before a state court jury.
According to Atlanta lawyer Craig T. Jones, who lost the 2007 chase case at the nation’s highest court, state courts have long been the better venue for claims of innocent bystanders injured in police pursuits. He pointed to a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision he said showed that those plaintiffs can succeed on a federal constitutional claim only if they show that the officer’s actions shock the conscience.
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