During oral arguments in February, Justice Antonin Scalia referred to
one of Hollywood's most tense car chases when he called the police
dashboard video of the pursuit of Harris the "scariest chase I've seen
since 'The French Connection.'"
Scott v Harris
Deputy Timothy Scott ... terminated a high-speed pursuit of [Harris]'s
car by applying his push bumper to the rear of the vehicle, causing it
to leave the road and crash. [Harris] was rendered quadriplegic. ...
Held: Because the car chase respondent initiated posed a substantial
and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others, Scott's
attempt to terminate the chase by forcing [Harris] off the road was
reasonable, and Scott is entitled to summary judgment.
.... the Court of Appeals adopted [Harris]'s assertions that, during the
chase, "there was little, if any, actual threat to pedestrians or
other motorists, as the roads were mostly empty and [Harris] remained
in control of his vehicle." .... Indeed, reading the lower court's
opinion, one gets the impression that respondent, rather than fleeing
from police, was attempting to pass his driving test:
"[T]aking the facts from [Harris]'s viewpoint, [Harris] remained in
control of his vehicle, slowed for turns and intersections, and
typically used his indicators for turns. He did not run any motorists
off the road. Nor was he a threat to pedestrians in the shopping
center parking lot, which was free from pedestrian and vehicular
traffic as the center was closed. Significantly, by the time the
parties were back on the highway and Scott rammed [Harris], the
motorway had been cleared of motorists and pedestrians allegedly
because of police blockades of the nearby intersections." Id., at
815-816 (citations omitted).
The videotape tells quite a different story. There we see [Scott]'s
vehicle racing down narrow, two-lane roads in the dead of night at
speeds that are shockingly fast. We see it swerve around more than a
dozen other cars, cross the double-yellow line, and force cars
traveling in both directions to their respective shoulders to avoid
being hit. We see it run multiple red lights and travel for
considerable periods of time in the occasional center left-turn-only
lane, chased by numerous police cars forced to engage in the same
hazardous maneuvers just to keep up. Far from being the cautious and
controlled driver the lower court depicts, what we see on the video
more closely resembles a Hollywood-style car chase of the most
frightening sort, placing police officers and innocent bystanders
alike at great risk of serious injury.
Justice Breyer, concurring.
.... Because watching the video footage of the car chase made a
difference to my own view of the case, I suggest that the interested
reader take advantage of the link in the Court's opinion ... and watch
it.
Footnote 5
.... We are happy to allow the videotape to speak for itself. See Record
36, Exh. A, available at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/video/scott_v_harris.rmvb
The entire download required 50 minutes.
To read the entire Supreme Court opinion, go to
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=05-1631
ciao,
Israel "izzy" Cohen
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