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Document Type

Article

Abstract

The United States Supreme Court has described a police officer's decision to terminate a high-speed car chase by making physical contact with the fleeing vehicle as a "choice between two evils." Indeed, while many speed-related deaths occur on Georgia's roadways without the involvement of law enforcement, deaths also transpire when officers choose to make such contact through Precision Intervention Technique (PIT) maneuvers.

In 2015, a Georgia jury found a driver guilty of committing felony murder—a conviction which carries with it a life sentence. The victim, a passenger in the driver's speeding car, died after a law enforcement officer performed a PIT maneuver, causing the driver to lose control. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court held that evidence calling into question the officer's judgment in performing the PIT maneuver was not relevant to the driver’s felony murder conviction because the manner in which the driver was operating the vehicle rendered a collision foreseeable. However, both Georgia and federal law codify a robust—if not necessarily straightforward—framework for determining an officer's civil liability for injuries that occur during police pursuits. And Georgia criminal law contains an explicit provision, separate from felony murder, that addresses deaths that arise out of a police pursuit.

This Note proffers several responses to the Georgia Supreme Court's holding that evidence of an officer's judgment is not relevant to a felony murder charge arising out of a PIT maneuver. First, the Georgia legislature may consider implementing an enumerated felony murder scheme, limiting the felonies under which felony murder could be charged and relying on Georgia's vehicular homicide statute to prosecute deaths related to PIT maneuvers. Second, Georgia courts may recognize scenarios factually distinct from Calhoun v. State in which it may be appropriate to consider officer judgment or conduct in performing a PIT maneuver; in such circumstances, courts will find a preexisting framework for determining civil liability in the same context, one which may prove instructive.

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