Johnathan Walker:Lawsuit against North Carolina officer who shot and killed teen can continue, court says

RALEIGH,Johnathan Walker N.C. (AP) — The mother of a 17-year-old who was killed while driving a reportedly stolen car in a central North Carolina city can continue to pursue claims against the police officer who shot her son, a federal court has ruled.

A three-judge panel for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, unanimously reversed on Monday a previous decision by a lower court to dismiss civil claims — including use of excessive force in the shooting death of the Black teenager, Nasanto Crenshaw — against Greensboro city police officer Matthew Lewis Sletten.

The lawsuit against the officer now returns to the U.S. District Court in Greensboro, where it may go to trial. The panel, meanwhile, upheld the dismissal of other claims against the city contained in the lawsuit.

After responding to reports of a stolen car in August 2022, Sletten followed the vehicle, which Crenshaw was driving, until they reached a dead end in the parking lot, according to the appeals court’s ruling. Sletten attempted to block off the car with his patrol vehicle, which Crenshaw swiped while trying to park, according to the plaintiff.

The lawsuit said Crenshaw tried evading Sletten by driving off when the officer shot at the vehicle several times, fatally hitting the teen. Sletten told the court that Crenshaw drove “directly toward” him and caused him to shoot, according to the court ruling.

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The teen’s mother, Wakita Doriety, sued the city and Sletten for wrongful death, battery and assault, in addition to claims against the officer for federal civil rights violations. She sought financial damages and other relief for his estate.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles dismissed Doriety’s claims in July 2023 against both the city and Sletten after reviewing video footage of what happened. Calling the video “integral” to granting the officer’s motion to dismiss, Eagles ruled that the footage indisputably showed the car driving at Sletten, according to the appellate opinion.

The appellate panel only partially disagreed with Eagles’ ruling. Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, writing the court’s opinion, said the video didn’t clearly refute the plaintiff’s “plausible allegations” of excessive force at this stage in the litigation. Keenan wrote that the video lacked “critical details” such as where the officer was located, the trajectory of the allegedly stolen vehicle and distance between the car and Sletten when he fired his gun.

“Courts must be mindful not to short-circuit at the motion to dismiss stage a plaintiff’s plausible claim of excessive force based on a video that does not blatantly contradict those allegations,” she wrote. Circuit Judges James Wynn and DeAndrea Gist Benjamin joined in the opinion.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Harry Daniels, said in a statement that Sletten was not in danger when he shot Crenshaw, adding that he hopes Crenshaw’s mother will “get to have her day in court” because of the appellate ruling.

Attorneys from a Greensboro law firm representing Sletten declined to comment Tuesday. The ruling can still be appealed.

The Guilford County district attorney said last year she would not pursue criminal charges against Sletten, saying he was justified in using deadly force.

The panel did uphold the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case against the city by citing governmental immunity — a type of immunity for local governments to protect them from legal claims based on their employees’ actions.