State trooper not liable for woman's injuries in 2016 police chase, Supreme Court says
Police officers were not reckless in their pursuit of an escaping suspect who then critically injured another driver in an August 2016 crash, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Amber Martinez of Urbandale spent 28 days in a coma after her car was rammed head-on by Scott Grimes, then 23, as Grimes attempted to escape from pursing police officers. Grimes had escaped from the Warren County jail a week before, reportedly sneaking out of his cell and through an open stairwell door while a jailer was handing out medications.
According to court records, Grimes spent his time on the run stealing cars across three states and finally returned to Des Moines to pick up his girlfriend. Two state officers located Grimes, driving a stolen vehicle, on Meredith Drive near Interstate 80 and attempted to pin his car between theirs, but he escaped and fled down Meredith, which the Supreme Court described as "well trafficked" at the time.
One of the officers, a State Patrol trooper, followed Grimes, who reached speeds of nearly 90 mph, but called off the pursuit just over a minute later after they saw Grimes veer into oncoming traffic to get around two cars blocking the right-hand lanes. Grimes, while briefly out of sight over a hill, slammed into Martinez's vehicle while still traveling against traffic.
What counts as 'reckless'?
Martinez, who suffered a collapsed lung, two broken vertebrae in her neck and many other injuries, along with her two children sued the state, alleging that the officers should have known pursuing a dangerous subject through rush-hour traffic imperiled innocent bystanders. A district judge denied the state's motion for summary judgment, saying a jury would have to decide whether the trooper acted with "reckless disregard for public safety."
Friday's Supreme Court decision reversed that decision. Justice Matthew McDermott, writing for all participating justices, wrote that "recklessness" under Iowa law is a high bar.
Previously:28 days later, Amber opens her eyes
"We conclude that no reasonable jury could find (State Trooper Brett) Tjepkes knew or should have known that the risk of pursuing Grimes was 'so great as to make it highly probable that harm would follow,'" McDermott wrote, citing prior case law. He added that the troopers' "decision to shut down his pursuit when he saw Grimes shift into the left lane demonstrates an appreciation — not disregard — of the distinct risk that Grimes’s decision to drive against the flow of traffic presented."
The court sidestepped another defense raised by the state, which argued that Tjepkes hadn't owed any "particularized" duty to protect Martinez from harm. Even assuming that he did have such a duty, McDermott wrote, the evidence does not show the trooper's actions breached that duty.
Attorney: 'our communities are not safer'
Attorney Molly Hamilton, who represented Martinez and her children, said in an email she was "saddened" by the decision.
"While the legal matter is concluded by the 'It is so ordered' keystrokes, it is not concluded for my client and her family and never will be," she said. "Her life was forever altered by the life-threatening and critical, not merely serious, injuries, she has endured and lives with every day. Our communities are not safer because of this decision which will be a further injustice."
Grimes, who was not injured in the crash, was arrested at the scene and later pled guilty to serious injury by vehicle. State records show he continues to serve a state prison sentence for his escape from custody, with an expected release date in 2025.
His escape from the Warren County jail, which the sheriff attributed to "human error," followed the escape of two other detainees who were able to open defective locks in 2015. That escape came days after a state inspector recommended the jail be abandoned due to serious security risks.
In May 2016, before Grimes' escape, Warren County voters rejected a ballot measure to build a new jail and courthouse facility.
In 2018, a state inspector shut down the jail for good, citing mold, fire safety and other problems and forcing the county to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to house and transport offenders elsewhere. That November, the county tried again, and this time voters approved what became the $41 million Warren County Justice Center, which opened in July 2022.
For subscribers:Warren County Justice Center opens July 1 nearly $10 million over original budget
Martinez was among the advocates who urged voters to support the 2018 measure. She returned to the site of the crash, aided by a walker, to urge the county to update its facilities.
"I just want to tell everybody that it's imperative you guys build a new jail because I'm living proof of what happens when someone escapes," she said.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Supreme Court rules officer not liable for woman hurt in chase
