The Supreme Court ruled Thursday against police officers in New Mexico who shot a woman who fled from arrest and said the woman could sue them for using excessive force even though she escaped capture at the time.
The police on a nighttime stakeout approached Roxanne Torres, believing she was another woman wanted on murder and other serious charges. When Torres sped off, they fired 13 shots, hitting her in the back.
She got away from the officers, but police arrested her the next day at a hospital.
Torres took her excessive-force case to the justices after lower courts sided with the police, saying that because she succeeded in running away, she couldn’t bring her Fourth Amendment claim. The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable search and seizures and the use of excessive force.
But in a 5-3 opinion, the high court sided with Torres and allowed her lawsuit against the police to move forward in the courts.
The justices reasoned that a person doesn’t have to be immediately apprehended by police to sue for excessive force.
“We hold that the application of physical force to the body of a person with the intent to restrain is a seizure even if the person does not submit and is not subdued,” conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in the ruling.
The case now heads back to the lower courts to determine if the shooting was reasonable and whether Torres will get any damages for her medical expenses.
The shooting occurred in 2014 when the officers approached Torres, believing she was Kayenta Jackson, who was suspected of murder, drug trafficking and other violent crimes.
Had the police successfully detained Torres, they would have discovered they had the wrong woman.
Torres said she believed the police to be carjackers and quickly drove away. The officers shot at her 13 times while she drove off, hitting her back and arm.
She later collided with another car, exited her vehicle and stole another car to continue to flee. She was suffering from methamphetamine withdrawal, according to reports.
Torres managed to drive herself to a hospital 75 miles away where she was later flown to a different hospital and successfully treated. Officers arrested her at that hospital the next day.
She sued the police for medical expenses and pain and suffering. As of 2016, she was out on parole. She was arrested for the events of that day, according to local reports.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas would have ruled for the officers.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the newest member of the high court, did not participate in the case.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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