Court rules police can't be sued in high-speed chase

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a police officer cannot be held liable for ramming a fleeing car during a high-speed chase, forcing the vehicle off the road and resulting in severe injury or even death for the driver.

By an 8-1 vote, the high court ruled the officer's conduct reasonable because the car chase initiated by the suspect posed a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others.

Justice Antonin Scalia said for the majority that an officer's attempt to end a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatened the lives of innocent bystanders did not violate the Constitution, even if it placed the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death.

He said a police video of the incident "resembles a Hollywood-style car chase of the most frightening sort."

The Supreme Court took the unusual step of putting the video on its Web site, along with the ruling in the case involving a sheriff's deputy from Coweta County in Georgia. (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/video/scott_v_harris.rmvb).

Scalia said the video contradicted the suspect's version of events that pedestrians or other motorists faced little or no threat during the chase.

VIDEOTAPE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

The video showed the car "racing down narrow, two-lane roads in the dead of night at speeds that are shockingly fast," Scalia said. "We are happy to allow the videotape to speak for itself."