HOUSTON (SE Texas Record) — A Texas appeals court recently upheld dismissal for a lawsuit against Harris County filed by the family of a 21-year-old woman killed in 2015 when the vehicle in which she was driving was struck during a police chase.
In its 23-page memorandum opinion issued Nov. 5, a Texas First District Court of Appeals three-judge panel upheld the county's claim of immunity from suit under state law.
"Because we conclude that this case falls within the emergency-response exception to the Texas Tort Claims Act's limited waiver of immunity and, thus, the County remains immune from Juarez's suit, we affirm the trial court's grant of the county's plea to the jurisdiction," the memorandum and order said.
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Appeals court Justice Richard Hightower wrote the opinion in which Justice Peter Kelly and Justice Countiss concurred.
Juarez was killed April 23, 2015 when her vehicle was stuck by a stolen truck driven by then 21-year-old Lanice Tobias Jr. as he fled law enforcement, including Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies, according to news reports at the time and the background portion of the court's opinion.
Some news reports spell Tobias' first name as "Lance."
Tobias, now 26, is serving a 40-year sentence at Clemens Unit prison farm in Brazoria County, according to an online inmate search. His projected release date is April 23, 2055.
Juarez' family subsequently sued Harris County, alleging negligence.
Harris County 55th District Court granted the county's jurisdictional plea, which asserted immunity from suit in the case, and dismissed all of the family's claims against the county.
The family appealed, arguing genuine issues of material fact remained in the case that preclude dismissal.
The record in the case made no allegations that patrol vehicles struck any other vehicle, including Juarez's, and found that Tobias ran a red light to evade capture by pursuing law enforcement, according to the opinion.
Deputies at the scene "kept a proper lookout, took appropriate evasive action, maintained safe control of their speed, yielded the right of way to other vehicles when appropriate, did not engage in or duplicate the suspects' dangerous driving maneuvers," the opinion said.
"We conclude, on the facts of this case, that the county presented sufficient evidence demonstrating that the emergency-response exception applies, and [the Juarez family] failed to present any evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact," the opinion said. "Accordingly, the trial court correctly determined that the county's immunity from suit was not waived by the Texas Tort Claims Act and it therefore lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the case."