Congratulations to Shelby White, Thad Spalding, and trial counsel, Daryl Washington, who settled a civil rights case against the City of Arlington and one of its officers for $1.9 million. The case involved the fatal shooting of Tavis Crane by Arlington police officer Craig Roper after Crane was stopped when his toddler threw a candy wrapper out of the car window. The trial court granted summary judgment to Officer Roper on the basis of qualified immunity. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit reversed that judgment, finding fact issues that needed to be decided by a jury as to whether Roper acted used reasonable force, considering–among many other facts–the speed with which Roper resorted to using deadly force.
The City and Officer Roper asked the entire 5th Circuit to rehear the case. That request was denied by a 10-6 vote. The City and Officer Roper then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. After responding, with the help of Kelsi Corkran and her team at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review on November 14, 2023, paving the way for the resolution of this case.
The case is Crane v. City of Arlington, Tex., 50 F.4th 453 (5th Cir. 2022), reh’g denied, 60 F.4th 976 (5th Cir. 2023), cert. denied sub nom. City of Arlington v. Crane, 144 S. Ct. 342 (2023), and cert. denied sub nom. Roper v. Crane, 144 S. Ct. 342 (2023). You can read a Dallas Morning News article about the case and its resolution here.