If you are driving through an intersection on a green light and are suddenly T-boned by a car speeding through a red light on the wrong side of the road, you would probably expect the insurance of the driver of the other vehicle to pay for damages and injuries.
But, what if the car that hit you was a Greensboro police car? In that case you might be out of luck and your recourse would be to sue Greensboro. But Greensboro has sovereign immunity, which in laymen’s terms means you can’t sue the city unless the city agrees to let you and the city doesn’t have to pay for damages or injuries.
Just such a lawsuit against the City of Greensboro, and the officer involved, was filed on behalf of Rafael Flores by Michele Cybulski and Seth Cohen of the Deuterman Law Group. Flores was a passenger in a pick-up truck traveling north on South Aycock Street that was struck by a Greensboro police car driven by Officer Jaala Janene Baker, who was traveling west on West Gate City Boulevard.
Cybulski said, “The officer was driving 80 mph the wrong way and ran a red light, hitting our client, but the city doesn’t want to pay for his injuries. That’s not right. He hurt his neck, shoulder and back and was in a lot of pain. He was lucky he wasn’t killed.”
Baker was reportedly involved in a high speed chase but, according to the lawsuit, North Carolina law “provides that emergency vehicles are exempt from having to comply with speed limitations; but this exemption does not protect the driver of that emergency vehicle from consequences of gross negligence, i.e. reckless disregard of the safety of others.”
The lawsuit states that the evidence of gross negligence includes that Baker was driving on the wrong side of the road, was driving 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, drove through a red light without slowing to make sure the intersection was clear, lost control of her vehicle and failed to keep and maintain a speed that was reasonably prudent for the conditions that then existed in a highly populated and heavily congested commercial area.
Along with the City of Greensboro, Baker is being sued both in her official capacity as a police officer and individually.
Cohen said, “The city will probably do what it usually does, hide behind sovereign immunity. This outdated doctrine says the city can injure its citizens and choose not to pay for the damage it causes. How is that fair?”
Funny the article doesn’t mention if the officerused her lights and siren which means the driver was required to yield right of way. Because its open season on the police. Everything they do is now twisted and sensationalized. Shame on you. You are using the murder of George Floyd for you own selfish benefit… just like the looters and rioters.
How are you supposed to yield when you are already in the intersection and the car is coming at 80 on the wrong side, ie you wouldn’t normally look to that direction even if you heard a siren. There is no way you could clear the intersection between time you heard a siren and you are hit at 80. The officer was negligent, PERIOD. Shame on you.
Dead right Lizzy.
How many laws, exactly,, did the grossly negligent cop break, Mr B.J.?
If the officer had hit a black person, the city would be paying up big time because as we all know, ONLY black lives matter. At least in Greensboro.
If the US were a 17th Century monarchy it would be understandable that the state could maim and kill with impunity. The King can do whatever he likes to us…
But aren’t we supposed to be a republic wherein sovereignty resides in the people, and agents of the state are our public servants?
This “sovereign immunity” BS is an affront to our values, and grossly unamerican.
Along with so called civil forfeiture, it proves that the police are above the law.
OBSCENE !
I’d love the hear this in Court, if it gets there. Sovereign Immunity. WTF is that? Who thot that one up? I guess it was the same people who run the City Council. The’ll do pretty much what they want. No where to hide.
You can depend on a good city council like Greensboro’s .They are not willing to pay for this poor guys injuries. They are sick,sick.and sick.Lord help us if one of them have a problem!!!!!!vote them out,
How would you feel if that had happened to one of your loved ones. We don’t stop to think before we speak until it happens to us. Sometimes we think it will never happen to us until it does. We all have opinions when we are on the outside looking in.