In a surprising decision, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania lowered the standard of police liability over the death of a woman struck in a police chase.
In Otero v. Kane et al., the pursuit of a suspect escalated and the suspect ran a red light, hitting and killing the individual. The administrator of the individual’s estate sued the officers involved and the City of Philadelphia under § 1983, alleging that the officers violated her substantive due process rights when they “consciously disregarded a substantial risk of harm posed by their actions.” The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that the plaintiff could not prevail because he had to show the officers had an “intent to harm,” which was the current standard.
The Court disagreed, holding that the “intent to harm” standard was too high and instead applied a “conscious disregard” standard. Under this standard, the officers and City can be held liable if the plaintiff can show that (1) there was no compelling justification to engage in a high-speed pursuit; and (2) the officer had time to consider whether to engage in such inherently risky behavior. The Court noted that the ruling was specific to police chases and that the standard, while lowered, is still a large hurdle to get over. However, it is important to note that the intent standard no longer applies for the time being. Time will tell whether the City of Philadelphia will appeal the ruling.