SCOTX to Decide if ‘Emergency Exception’ Bars Family of Slain Bicyclist from Suing Houston

The Texas Supreme Court is weighing whether the family of a bicyclist who was killed by a police officer responding to an emergency call can proceed with their lawsuit or if immunity bars the claim. 

Houston has argued the lawsuit brought by the mother, Catrennia Foreman Sauls, and child of Dwayne Foreman, who was killed by an officer driving 62 mph in a 40-mph zone in 2019, has to be dismissed under the “emergency exception” to the Texas Tort Claims Act, which shields police from such suits if they’re responding to an emergency. But lower courts have declined to dismiss the case after finding there is a disagreement between the parties as to whether the officer was actually responding to an emergency.