Appellate Win Secured in City of Seattle Wrongful Death Case
Baker Sterchi attorneys recently secured a decision from the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I, affirming summary judgment in favor of their client, the City of Seattle.
The underlying case involved a wrongful death suit filed in a plaintiff-friendly King County jurisdiction. The suit alleged negligence by a major city police officer in a traffic stop that culminated in a fatal collision. The incident occurred when the officer attempted to pull over a drug-impaired co-defendant driver, who ultimately collided with a motorcyclist, resulting in the motorcyclist’s death. The plaintiff, representing the motorcyclist’s estate, alleged that the officer’s attempted stop led the driver to "elude" police, causing the crash.
The defense presented a detailed reconstruction showing that the officer activated his emergency lights upon observing the driver’s erratic behavior. When the driver fled, the officer turned off his lights and followed at a distance, preparing to apprehend the driver if he attempted to flee on foot. The reconstruction showed that the driver could only have seen the officer briefly he had been looking directly behind him and, in fact, testified he never noticed the police vehicle. Baker Sterchi successfully moved for summary judgment, which the trial court granted.
On an appeal by the estate, the Washington Court of Appeals upheld the trial court decision in an unpublished decision, finding that the officer’s conduct did not proximately cause the crash where the undisputed testimony showed that the co-defendant driver never saw the officer.
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