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Supreme Court sides with police over fatal Ark. pursuit

Ruling Tuesday reversed a lower court decision that allowed the lawsuit to go forward against six West Memphis, Ark., officers

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has sided with police officers who were sued over a high-speed chase that ended with the deaths of the fleeing driver and his passenger.

The court was unanimous in holding that the officers who fatally shot driver Donald Rickard did not violate the violate Rickard’s constitutional rights.

The ruling Tuesday reversed a lower court decision that allowed the lawsuit to go forward against six West Memphis, Ark., police officers.

They shot Rickard and passenger Kelly Allen in 2004 in a chaotic scene on a Memphis street following a chase, captured on video, which began across the Mississippi River in Arkansas. A police officer pulled over Rickard’s white Honda because a headlight was out. Rickard sped away when the officer asked him to get out of the car.

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