Supreme Court to hear case of police sued over fatal car chase

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by police officers in Arkansas who were involved in a car chase that ended with the deaths of the driver and his passenger across the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tenn. The justices said last Friday they will review an appeals court ruling allowing a civil lawsuit by the driver's daughter to proceed against six West Memphis, Ark., police officers. They fatally shot driver Donald Rickard and passenger Kelly Allen in a chaotic scene on a Memphis street. The lawsuit says police used excessive force. The officers say they should be shielded from liability and cite a 2008 Supreme Court decision allowing police to use tactics that put fleeing suspects at risk of death to end high-speed chases. The case is Plumhoff v. Rickard, 12-1117. Published: Tue, Nov 19, 2013