This case involves a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the estate of Darion Dev'on Baker and his family against police officers Richard Coborn and Michael McHugh. The incident occurred in Stratford, Texas, after officers stopped a stolen sedan driven by Baker and his passenger, Gregory Dees. When the officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn and ordered the occupants to show their hands, Baker put the car in drive. The officers fired the first round of shots as the car began to move, but Baker accelerated forward and to the left. Officer Coborn continued to fire a second round of shots while running toward the moving vehicle, striking Baker in the back. The fatal shot exited through Baker's chest. The officers claimed qualified immunity, arguing their use of force was reasonable. The district court had previously denied qualified immunity for the second round of shots, and the officers appealed that denial.
The Fifth Circuit focused on the second prong of the qualified immunity analysis: whether the right violated was clearly established at the time of the conduct. The court applied the standard that a right is clearly established only if existing precedent places the constitutional question beyond debate, requiring a high degree of specificity. The officers argued that the precedent case, Lytle v. Bexar County, was no longer good law following the Supreme Court's decision in Mullenix v. Luna, which warned against defining clearly established law at a high level of generality. The court rejected this argument, clarifying that while Mullenix abrogated the specific formulation of the rule regarding fleeing suspects, it did not undermine Lytle's holding that the specific facts in Lytle constituted a Fourth Amendment violation. The court compared the facts of this case to Lytle, noting that in both instances, a suspected felon attempted to flee in a stolen vehicle after ignoring commands, and an officer fired at the back of the vehicle as it drove away. The court emphasized that unlike in Lytle, where a chase occurred in a residential neighborhood, here the officer fired at a slowly moving vehicle in an empty parking lot. The court concluded that the holding in Lytle put the officers on notice that firing at a fleeing vehicle under these circumstances was a clearly established Fourth Amendment violation. The court noted that while an exercise of force might be reasonable at one moment, it can become unreasonable if the justification for the force ceases, and a disputed fact remained regarding whether the officers had sufficient time to perceive that the threat had passed.
The decision affirms the lower court's denial of qualified immunity, meaning the officers cannot avoid trial on the grounds of immunity. The case will proceed to a jury trial to determine the ultimate merits of the Fourth Amendment violation claim and the amount of damages owed to the victim's estate. The ruling clarifies that officers remain personally liable for using deadly force against a fleeing vehicle that has accelerated away from the scene, provided the facts are viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.
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