The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that high-ranking officers in the De Soto Police Department should not be held liable in a lawsuit over a 2018 high-speed pursuit that led to the death of a 16-year-old girl.
After hearing arguments from attorneys representing Sgt. Dirk Helms and former Police Chief Joe Edwards on March 30 that the two should be dismissed from a wrongful death suit brought by Lillian Flath’s father, the state’s highest court handed down a decision on June 15 in favor of the police officers. The decision was written by Judge Paul Wilson; none of the other five justices filed dissenting opinions.
While the high court ruling does not dismiss Edwards and Helms from the wrongful death suit, it does prohibit the circuit court from taking any action against the two in the case other than to dismiss them from the case.
The girl’s father, Lonnie Decker of De Soto, filed a civil suit in April 2020 against the city of De Soto, Helms, Edwards, De Soto Police Officers David Krassinger and Adam Schuler, as well as Evan Trigg and Anthony Santiago – two De Soto residents who were involved in the three-vehicle accident.
Helms is still a sergeant in the department, and Schuler, who assisted in the pursuit and later was dismissed from the civil suit, still is employed by the
De Soto Police Department.
Edwards, who was the De Soto police chief for six months in 2018, and Krassinger no longer work for the department.
The wrongful death civil suit, which is ongoing, is being heard by Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joe Rathert. A pretrial conference hearing is scheduled for July 30.
Supreme Court case
The case before the Supreme Court was an appeal of Rathert’s ruling in July 2020 that Helms and Edwards should not be dismissed as defendants.
The Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld Rathert’s ruling in September 2020, and Edwards and Helms then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Attorneys contended that Edwards and Helms were not involved in the incident that led to Flath’s death, and that the two should be protected under the public duty and official immunity legal doctrines, arguing essentially that they should not be held liable for performing duties required under their jobs.
In arguments before the Supreme Court, their attorneys said the doctrines of official immunity and public duty allow “public servants to act quickly and decisively, for the benefit of the public, and without fear of crippling personal exposure on claims that have been brought with the obvious benefit of hindsight.”
The high court agreed, noting the exception Decker’s attorneys claimed to the official immunity doctrine – that Edwards’ and Helms’ actions constituted ministerial duty – should be construed narrowly and did not apply in this case.
A ministerial action is defined as one taken by a public official under legal authority, established procedures or instructions from a superior, without exercising individual judgment.
The wrongful death case alleges Edwards, as police chief, and Helms, as sergeant, failed to train the department’s officers on proper police pursuits according to the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Commission requirements. It also alleges Edwards and Helms failed to require officers to follow state law directing officers to consider the safety of those not involved in a pursuit and they should have directed officers to end the pursuit given the risks to the public.
The court ruled that neither of those allegations were ministerial, but instead involved much discretion.
In handing down the court’s opinion, Wilson wrote that the police officials “retain wide latitude to determine precisely what vehicle pursuit policy to adopt, when to adopt it, and when and how best to train peace officers under that policy. These are the types of decisions the official immunity doctrine is meant to protect.”
De Soto City Manager Todd Melkus said the high court’s ruling was good news for the city.
“We’re obviously pretty excited about it,” he said. “It’s not only an important ruling for our officers, but a favorable ruling for other law officers in similar situations.
“Cases like this have ramifications not just in De Soto, but the issues are important throughout the country. Taking official immunity away would make it even harder to recruit law enforcement officers.”
Melkus said the original suit is still winding its way through the courts.
“We’re obviously still a long way to go on this case,” he said. “But it takes some of the weight off Sgt. Helms, which we’re happy about.
John Guletz, who represented Decker, did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Background of the case
The accident in which Flath was killed occurred on May 22, 2018, on South Second Street at Amvets Drive in De Soto.
According to court documents and a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Krassinger received a call about a suspicious vehicle, parked and with its headlights off, in Woodlawn Cemetery.
According to reports, Krassinger approached the 2003 Oldsmobile Alero, and the driver, Santiago, then 18, sped away, with Flath in the front passenger seat of the car, which was owned by Decker. Another girl, then 15, also was a passenger in the car.
According to court documents, Krassinger pursued the Oldsmobile, with both cars exceeding 60 mph and ignoring traffic signals and stop signs in a residential neighborhood. After Santiago allegedly failed to stop for a stop sign, the Oldsmobile was hit on South Second Street at Amvets Drive by a 1995 Chevrolet 1500 pickup driven by Trigg, then 20.
After the collision, the car began to spin, and the right side of it struck the front of a parked car on South Second Street.
Flath was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel, and Santiago and the other girl were hospitalized.
Santiago pleaded guilty in July 2019 to three felonies – causing the death of another while driving under the influence, causing serious physical injury while driving under the influence, and resisting arrest, detention or stop by fleeing and creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death to any person.
The probable cause statement in the case indicated Santiago was driving under the influence of drugs.
Div. 2 Circuit Judge Darrell Missey sentenced Santiago to 10 years in prison for the causing death by DWI charge, seven years in prison for the DWI physical injury charge and four years in prison on the resisting arrest charge.
All three sentences were suspended, and Santiago was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, according to court documents.
Wrongful death case
The wrongful death civil case seeks at least $25,000 in damages against each defendant.
Santiago has settled his part in the case by agreeing to pay $78,500, and Trigg agreed to settle his for $75,000; both agreements were signed by Rathert in July 2020.
In the settlement documents, both denied fault for injuries and damages in the accident but acknowledged that if the case were heard by a jury, they ran the risk of being ordered to pay more.