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REL:03/02/2007 Gooden v. City of Talladega

Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 242-4621), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.

SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2006-2007 ____________________ 1041780 ____________________ Elisha Gooden, as personal representative of the estate of Tyrone Gooden, deceased v. City of Talladega and Daniel Dill Appeal from Talladega Circuit Court (CV-05-94)

SMITH, Justice.

Elisha Gooden, as personal representative of the estate of Tyrone Gooden, deceased, appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the City of Talladega and Daniel Dill in a wrongful-

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death action Elisha filed in the Talladega Circuit Court. affirm.
Facts and Procedural History

We

At approximately 3:30 a.m. on November 3, 2002, City of Talladega police officers Tony Haynes and Charles Courtney were on patrol when they encountered a black Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle ("SUV") with an out-of-state tag. After noticing a broken taillight on the SUV, the officers requested the dispatch officer to "run" the tag in the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") database, and the officers then turned on the blue lights on their patrol car to pull over the SUV. However, the driver of the SUV, Tyrone Gooden, did not pull over. After traveling a short distance, Tyrone turned The officers

onto Alabama Highway 77 and proceeded north.

then turned on the siren, and Tyrone pulled the SUV over and came to a stop approximately 50 yards from the intersection of Highway 77 and Peters Road. The officers notified the

dispatcher of the location of the stop, and the dispatcher informed them that the NCIC database was not then available.

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When Officers Haynes and Courtney got out of the patrol car and began walking towards the SUV, three male passengers got out of the SUV. Courtney testified that he and Haynes

told the passengers to get back in the SUV but that the passengers leaving." said they could not because the driver "was

Tyrone, whose driver's license had been suspended,

then took off in the SUV, again heading north on Highway 77. Officer Courtney testified that the SUV almost struck one of the former passengers as it was leaving. As the SUV crossed Peters Road, it passed in front of the patrol car of Talladega police officer Daniel Dill. Dill

did not know why Officers Haynes and Courtney had stopped the SUV, but he had watched the SUV pull over, and he saw two of the passengers get out as Officers Haynes and Courtney

approached the SUV.

Dill saw the SUV leave the scene, and

when it passed in front of his patrol car, Dill turned on his blue lights and siren and began pursuing the SUV. Haynes and

Courtney got back in their patrol car, turned on their lights and siren, and joined the pursuit. The vehicles in the chase were traveling at a much higher rate of speed than the posted speed limit. Dill testified

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that he was traveling at approximately 70 to 80 miles per hour and was approximately 100 yards from Tyrone's SUV. Haynes

testified that he was approximately 2 or 3 car lengths behind Dill and was traveling between 80 and 90 miles per hour. The chase continued until Tyrone reached the intersection of Cove Access Road and Howell Cove Road, which was

approximately a mile from Highway 34.

The intersection was

after a slight upgrade and curve in the road, and there was a four-way stop at that intersection. Tyrone attempted to

proceed through the intersection at a high rate of speed. Tyrone's speed caused him to lose control of the SUV and run off the road, and he was ejected from the vehicle. As Dill traveled around the curve, he saw the SUV turned sideways in the road about 200-300 yards away. Dill then

locked his brakes and swerved. He missed the SUV, but he lost control of his patrol car and left the road. The airbag in

Dill's patrol car deployed, and he was knocked unconscious but was not seriously injured. Haynes and Courtney stopped near the SUV. After getting

no response from Dill on the radio, Courtney went to check on Dill, and Haynes went to check on Tyrone. Haynes found Tyrone

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lying in a ditch near the road.

Tyrone was still alive, but

he was bleeding and severely injured and could not talk. Tyrone was taken to a hospital, where he died of injuries he suffered in the wreck. The distance from where Tyrone was first pulled over to where the chase ended was approximately 3.2 miles, although at his deposition Dill estimated the chase had been only about 1.5 miles. Elisha asserts that the parties stipulated that

the chase lasted two to three minutes. On October 24, 2003, Tyrone's mother Elisha filed an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, naming as defendants the City of

Talladega; Alan Watson, the Chief of Police of the City of Talladega; and Dill. Elisha asserted four claims, including

a claim under 42 U.S.C.

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