The Legal Intelligencer 12-18-2000
By April White
Philadelphia police officers in a 1998 chase acted with “intent to harm” a Philadelphia Common Pleas jury found last week, awarding the estate of a woman killed during the pursuit $744,000.
According to plaintiffs counsel Ruben Honik of Golomb & Honik, the case represents the first police-chase verdict handed down in Pennsylvania post-County of Sacramento v. Lewis, the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision which established a “shocks the conscience” standard for evaluating police pursuits.
“This is the first Pennsylvania state court trial verdict in a post-County of Sacramento v. Lewis police-chase case. Even under this higher standard, we were successful in proving that a lieutenant of the Philadelphia police department intended harm,” Honik, who represented the estate of Raquelle Burnett, said after the Friday verdict.
Two other plaintiffs in the consolidated case—one injured, one killed in the accident which ended the pursuit—reached settlements with the City of Philadelphia during the two-week trial before Judge Victor J. DiNubile Jr.
The City of Philadelphia Law Department plans to dispute the verdict in post-trial motions.
“We disagree with the verdict,” City Solicitor Ken Trujillo said. “We will be making our position clear in post-trial motions. We believe the verdict should be set aside because we do not believe that there is any evidence that any of the police officers intended to harm the plaintiff, and we think we will ultimately prevail in post-trial motions or on appeal.”
Honik also plans to file post-trial motions—to increase the verdict which DiNubile limited to economic loss.
DiNubile also rejected Honik’s argument that the plaintiffs only had to meet the pre-Lewis standard, “deliberative indifference.” The police, Honik said, had ample time for deliberation, a factor which creates an exception to the higher “intent to harm” standard.
The pursuit in question began with a stolen briefcase.
On the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1998, a briefcase was stolen from Officer Jay Bigle’s unlocked police car in Philadelphia’s Bridesburg neighborhood. An intensive door-to-door investigation placed suspicion on Joe Ross, a 16-year-old Bridesburg boy.
Neighbors had seen the boy driving a pick-up truck near the scene of the theft; 17 -year-old Jennifer DePew had been in the passenger seat of the pick-up truck, they said. Neighbors also told the police that Ross would be unlikely to cooperate if confronted.
At 9 p.m., police officers visited DePew’s mother, who paged her daughter. When DePew returned the call, she spoke with Sergeant Jodi Schwartzl, now a lieutenant, and agreed to direct Ross to a Bridesburg intersection where police would be waiting.
Before DePew and Ross reached the rendezvous point, police began pursuit. Three cars, including one driven by Bigle, followed the truck on to the Betsy Ross Bridge; Schwartzl, who was directing the pursuit, followed in a fourth car. Ross made a U-turn and headed south on I-95. Once on the highway, three police cars attempted to surround the pick-up truck. Bigle struck the rear driver’s side of the truck with his police car, spinning the truck 180 degrees.
Ross began driving north in the southbound emergency lane. A police car followed him for three miles before Ross swerved into on-coming traffic, striking the vehicle in which Burnett was a passenger. Burnett was killed; the driver, Thomas Marvin, was injured and now suffers brain damage. DePew was also killed.
Burnett’s estate; DePew’s estate, represented by Gerald McHugh of Litvin Blumberg Matusow & Young; and Marvin, represented by John M. Dodig of Master Weinstein Schnoll & Dodig; filed civil rights claims against the city and officers Bigle and Schwartzl. Jeffrey M. Scott of the City of Philadelphia Law Department Civil Rights Division was lead counsel for the city with Shelley R. Smith and James M. Duckworth serving as co-counsel.
The cases were consolidated and removed to federal court, but the plaintiffs successfully argued to have the case returned to state court.
“We felt that this was a case of interest to Philadelphia County citizens. Who better than a Philadelphia County jury to determine the relative rights of its own citizens?” Honik said.
It took the jury of 12 less than two hours to return the unanimous verdict. The jury asked one question before reaching a decision: What is the largest amount the jury can award?
The answer—and the verdict—was $744,000. Honik originally argued for $1.2 million in economic damages plus pain and suffering. DiNubile disallowed the pain and suffering claim and was constrained by federal laws which reduce economic losses to present value minus a tax burden.
“It resonated [with the jury] that the police were abusing their authority to pursue a personal motive,” Honik said of the verdict.
