US court gives Harry Dunn’s legal team green light for court
Family given green light to continue
A judge in the US has given the Dunn family leave to continue with their civil proceedings against Harry’s alleged killer and her husband. Nineteen-year-old Harry died after his bike was struck by a vehicle driven on the wrong side of the road. Anne Sacoolas admitted being behind the wheel of the vehicle, but fled home to the United States after claiming diplomatic immunity. With prospects of a criminal case low in the UK, the Dunn family have been pursuing a civil case in the US. Sacoolas’ lawyers have made numerous attempts to have the claim thrown out but they have all been unsuccessful. In the latest update, a Virginia court has ruled that the Dunns can claim against Sacoolas’ husband Jonathan as Virginia’s laws allow “vicarious liability” because he permitted his wife to use his car, which was then involved in the crash. Unless there is a settlement, the case will proceed to court with the next stage witness statements (known as depositions), which would force the Sacoolas side to provide their account of the events. The US court system provides for face-toface depositions, which could see the Dunn family in the same room as Anne Sacoolas for the first time. The Dunns’ MP, Andrea Leadsom, raised the issue again with the Prime Minister last week. She said
Boris Johnson maintained that the Government “continue to raise it at the highest level” adding that Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has discussed it with his opposite in the US, Anthony Blinken.
‘Sacoolas could be forced to give her side’