8th Circuit Victory in Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting from High-Speed Chase

Earlier this year, attorney Sean Conway secured a victory for his client and a reversal of the lower court’s decision before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in a local personal injury claim involving the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.

Kirstie Wade and her children were injured in a car accident resulting from a high-speed police chase initiated by a deputy from Pottawattamie County, Iowa, which ended in a car crash occurring in Nebraska.  Mr. Conway filed a lawsuit on Ms. Wade’s behalf in Nebraska federal district court against Pottawattamie County for engaging in the risky high-speed pursuit during daytime traffic when injury to innocent third parties was likely.  However, the district court dismissed the case, citing a lack of personal jurisdiction over the Iowa county.

Mr. Conway then brought Ms. Wade’s injury case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  The court had to determine whether the Nebraska district court had personal jurisdiction over Pottawattamie County.  Personal jurisdiction depends on both a forum state’s long-arm statute and general due-process principles.  Nebraska’s long-arm statute authorizes “the exercise of personal jurisdiction consistent with the Constitution of the United States,” which means that the exercise of personal jurisdiction over Pottawattamie County must be “consistent with” due process.

The court found that specific jurisdiction, which covers only those claims arising out of or relating to a party’s contacts with the forum, applied in Ms. Wade’s case.  The court reasoned that the Pottawattamie County deputies had purposefully availed themselves of the benefits and protections of Nebraska’s laws by choosing to continue to chase a fleeing motorist across state lines, and they could have reasonably anticipated being brought to court in Nebraska if something went wrong.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, ruling that the district court did have personal jurisdiction over Pottawattamie County.  The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Sean Conway, who argued the appeal on behalf of Ms. Wade, explained this was an important decision for the rights of innocent third parties injured as a result of a high-speed police chase, regardless of whether that police chase originates in Nebraska or Iowa.

To read the Eighth Circuit’s decision in this important case, click the link below: https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/24/05/231059P.pdf