High court sides with state trooper over fatal shooting

Unsigned opinion reversed lower court decision.

The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a Texas state trooper who was sued after he fatally shot a man fleeing from officers during a 2010 high-speed chase outside Amarillo.

The court ruled that Trooper Chadrin Mullenix cannot be held liable for the death of Israel Leija Jr. after firing at his car from a highway overpass.

The unsigned opinion reversed a lower court decision that allowed a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Leija’s family against Mullenix to go forward.

Mullenix said he fired at the car in an attempt to disable it after Leija led police on a 25-mile chase that reached speeds over 100 mph, was reported to be intoxicated and had twice called a police dispatcher threatening to shoot officers if they did not stop pursuing him.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying Mullenix had no training in shooting to disable a vehicle, fired at the car less than a second before it hit spike strips deployed to stop it and acted against the order of his superior officer, who told him to wait.

Sotomayor said the court was sanctioning a “shoot first, think later approach to policing.”

But the majority said Mullenix acted out of concern that Leija might try to shoot or run over officers manning the spike strips. Evidence showed that four of Mullenix’s shots struck Leija’s upper body, killing him. The car continued traveling over the spikes, hit the median and rolled over.

The justices said it was not “clearly established” that Mullenix had used excessive force “by selecting one dangerous alternative over another.”

A federal district court ruled that there were issues of fact as to whether Mullenix acted recklessly or as a reasonable officer would in similar circumstances. A federal appeals court agreed that there were questions about how immediate the risk was to officers.

Leija fled police after they tried to arrest him for a probation violation. Mullenix testified that he radioed his superior officer with the idea of firing at the car to disable it. Before receiving a response, Mullenix got out of his car and took a position on the overpass.

The supervisor, Sgt. Robert Byrd, told Mullenix to “stand by” and “see if the spikes work first.” Mullenix testified that he didn’t hear the order.