City owes $1.7M for 2003 police chase

The state Court of Appeals has reinstated a $4.6 million jury verdict won by a honeymooning couple struck by a speeding car in a downtown Seattle crosswalk during a 2003 police chase.

Ronald and Jeanette Ashley, of Chehalis, had sued the driver, a young nanny who was driving the car without a license, as well as the nanny's employers and the city, alleging police were negligent in starting a dangerous pursuit over a minor traffic violation.

The ruling means the city is liable for nearly $1.7 million of the amount awarded to the Ashleys.

The city, at trial and on appeal, argued that a police officer is liable for negligence only for failing to end a chase if it become too dangerous, but not for a decision to initiate one. The jury at the Ashleys' 2007 trial, and the appeals court opinion last week, disagreed.

Aside from the costs, attorneys for Seattle police say the ruling, if it stands, imposes "bizarre" liability standards on officers who have to make split-second decisions to start police chases.

"If this stands, then an officer who does everything right still faces a tremendous burden. It sends a message: 'Just don't do anything,' " said Police Department legal adviser Leo Poort.

Poort thinks the ruling poses a dilemma for police departments that may find its way to the state Legislature and a rewrite of the state's emergency-vehicle statute. What he'd like to see, though, is a more sympathetic reading of the case law by the state Supreme Court.

For now, however, departments are in limbo: The Court of Appeals ruling is "unpublished," meaning that, for now, it can't be cited as a precedent in other cases.

"Still, it's hanging out there, and we have to figure out what we're going to do about it," Poort said. "I mean, I don't know what we're supposed to teach our officers now when these situations arise. This officer did everything he could do and it still cost the city millions."

"If the court is right, then every time a police officer turns on his emergency lights, the city is responsible for whatever happens," said Assistant City Attorney Robert Williams. "And we can't live with that."

Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said he believed the opinion was "a fluke."

The City Attorney's Office says it's likely to appeal the ruling.

The attorney for the Ashleys, Todd Gardner, of Renton, said the city was "pulling its hair out" for nothing. He said — and the trial judge and Court of Appeals agreed — that the city's reading of the traffic-safety law was wrong.

"Their distress over this ruling is absurd," Gardner said. "It is consistent with the way the law has always been."

The issue is whether the officer could be held liable for what happens because he initiated a pursuit. The emergency-vehicle statute gives police permission to speed, run red lights and disobey other traffic signals while responding to emergencies. Even so, officers still must "drive with due regard for the safety of all persons."

The city had argued that this duty applies only to a decision to continue or terminate a pursuit as unsafe, not to the initial decision to start a chase. The Court of Appeals decision found this argument "unpersuasive."

Case law and the Seattle Police Department's own policies make it "clear that the initial decision to pursue a law violator is a part of the officer's duty to drive with reasonable care and due regard for the safety of others," wrote Division 1 Court of Appeals Judge Ann Schindler. She was joined in the opinion by Judges Linda Lau and Anne Ellington.

On June 11, 2003, Seattle police veteran Ted Mansour pulled over a green Volkswagen Passat for making an illegal right turn against a red light. The driver of the car, 21-year-old Ronisha Kelley, was a nanny working for a Seattle family and had her employers' 2-year-old daughter in the back seat.

According to court files, Kelley did not have permission to drive the car and had only a learner's permit. Mansour pulled her over in the parking lot of the Queen Anne post office, where he spoke to her briefly and told her to wait as he moved his patrol car.

Kelley, however, panicked and sped out of the lot toward Mercer Street, according to the court record. Mansour called for backup, turned on his emergency lights and siren, and sped after her.

The officer found her at Mercer Street and Warren Avenue North. He turned off his siren, jumped out of his patrol car and pulled his service weapon, ordering Kelley from the car. Instead, she sped off again. Mansour, siren wailing, resumed the pursuit, according to court documents and news reports at the time.

As Kelley turned right from Mercer onto Fifth Avenue North, Ronald and Jeanette Ashley were crossing the street. Expert testimony at the 2007 civil trial indicated Kelley was traveling more than 50 mph when the Passat hit the couple. The Ashleys both suffered severe injuries, including broken bones and head injuries.

The Ashleys settled with Kelley and her employers' insurance company for $2.75 million, with an agreement that it would be applied toward any eventual verdict. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a verdict of $4.57 million, with the remaining $1.7 million owed by the city.

Kelley was convicted of two counts of vehicular assault and evading a police officer.

Jeannette Ashley, 51, said Thursday that she was grateful for the decision. She and her husband, Ronald, 56, continue to struggle with the injuries they suffered that day.

Jeannette Ashley's knee was shattered, and she has to "wear a brace just to get around. I didn't walk for a long time," she said.

They had to sell their two-story house in Pacific County because of the stairs. Her husband, she said, suffers from a constant headache, the result of his head hitting the curb. He also suffered a crushed pelvis.

"We'll never be the same," she said.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com