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We expect the police to serve and protect. And, when they’re not on duty, we would certainly expect them to use reasonable care when on the road. But that isn’t always the case. And, a lot of car accident victims feel like they can’t get justice when the person who hit them is a police officer. This was certainly the case in Baton Rouge this past week when an off duty police officer wasn’t charged for the death of a child.
Back in 2017, an off-duty police officer was driving an orange corvette at about 94 mph when he crashed into an SUV. The woman driving the SUV had 4 of her children in the car with her. Now, none of them were wearing their seatbelt at the time of the crash. And, the youngest child was in a car seat but her seat wasn’t properly belted in.
Initially, the officer was charged with negligent homicide. However, the charges were dropped this week. The prosecutor said that it was too hard to determine who was at fault for the child’s death – the cop or the child’s mother.
Despite the fact that the officer was going more than twice the speed limit at the time of the accident, the State felt that the mother was equally at fault. Now, she wasn’t speeding. She had a green light. But she couldn’t stop fast enough given how fast officer Christopher Manuel was going at the time of the crash.
The State even said they wanted to cite the mother for negligent homicide but chose not to. Her other children were also seriously injured in the crash. Her 15-year old son is still in a wheelchair.
This is the kind of case where a civil lawsuit is the only possible remedy for the child’s mother. If your child is injured in any sort of crash, contact our office at right away.
