Adams v. City of Jackson
| Decision Date | 09 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2021-CC-00454-COA |
| Parties | RAKASHA ADAMS APPELLANT v. CITY OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
BEFORE BARNES, C.J., LAWRENCE AND EMFINGER, JJ.
¶1. Rakasha Adams was an officer with the Jackson Police Department. During one shift, after witnessing a vehicle run a stop sign and force another vehicle off the road, Officer Adams initiated blue lights to conduct a traffic stop. The vehicle did not immediately stop. Officer Adams followed behind the vehicle for 1.23 miles for approximately four minutes, traveling between ten and twenty miles per hour. The vehicle eventually ran into another patrol vehicle assisting Officer Adams. After the officers exited their vehicles, the driver attempted to strike the assisting officer. As a result, both officers fired their weapons at the car, and the driver was killed. Jackson Police Department suspended both officers for ninetydays without pay for engaging in a "pursuit" while Jackson had a "no-pursuit policy."
Adams appealed to the Civil Service Commission, and after a hearing, the Commission affirmed the suspension. After the circuit court affirmed the Commission's decision, Officer Adams appealed and alleges before this Court that the Commission's decision was made without substantial evidence and was arbitrary and capricious. We agree that the Commission's decision was contrary to the substantial evidence, arbitrary, and capricious, and we reverse the circuit court's judgment confirming that decision. We remand the case to the Commission for a determination of restitution consistent with this opinion.
¶2. On January 27, 2018, Adams saw a red Pontiac G6 run a stop sign and cause a black Nissan to run off the road while she was on patrol in a residential area in Jackson. After checking on the individuals in the Nissan and ensuring their safety, she turned on her blue lights and followed the red Pontiac to initiate a traffic stop. The Pontiac driver did not pull over but continued to drive at a slow speed between ten and twenty miles per hour for approximately four minutes or 1.23 miles. During that time, Adams radioed dispatch to run the Pontiac tag and discovered the Pontiac had not been stolen and belonged to Crystalline Barnes. Adams also radioed Corporal Albert Taylor,[1] who was on patrol nearby, and asked him to "assist" her with "pulling over the car." Taylor assisted and positioned his patrol car behind Adams and began to follow Adams. At some point as they approached a traffic light Taylor was separated from Adams and the Pontiac. Adams and the Pontiac made it through the intersection on the green light, but it changed to red for Taylor. He stopped at the light and waited for the light to turn green again. Once the traffic light changed to green, Taylor continued and found Adams and the Pontiac at the end of a residential street. The Pontiac accelerated and ran into Taylor's patrol car head-on. Both Adams and Taylor got out of their patrol cars and saw the Pontiac accelerate again, but this time it went toward Taylor in what both officers thought was an attempt to run Taylor over. In response, Adams and Taylor fired their weapons at the Pontiac. The Pontiac's driver, Barnes, was killed. A Hinds County grand jury returned a no true bill as to the officers' actions during the shooting. However the Jackson Police Department concluded Adams (and Taylor) violated the Jackson Police Department's "no-pursuit policy" and suspended both officers for ninety days without pay. Adams appealed the disciplinary action to the City of Jackson's Civil Service Commission (Commission),[2] and on February 14, 2019, the Commission held a hearing.
¶3. During the Commission hearing, Adams was the first to testify. She testified that she started her patrol shift around 6:45 a.m. or 7:00 a.m., and around 7:20 a.m. she "saw the red Pontiac G6 [make a wide turn and] run the stop sign[,] . . . [which ran a black] Nissan off the roadway . . . onto the grass and onto the curb." Adams checked on the occupants of the Nissan, and both occupants said they were okay and asked her "to go get the people that were driving carelessly." Adams said that she reversed her patrol car to follow the Pontiac, but by the time she got to the road, the Pontiac was already at the end of the road. She then initiated her blue lights, but the Pontiac did not stop. Instead, "the car [made] a rolling stop at the stop sign and turn[ed] and [made] a left-hand turn." Adams explained that she was unable to see the Pontiac driver because of the dark tint, and she "called out" to dispatch to "run a tag." Adams said that Sergeant Geraldine Green intervened and asked her "what I have" and "what's [my] speed." Adams said she explained what happened and when she told Green her speed, fifteen to twenty miles per hour, Green became "silent."[3] Dispatch ran the tag and told Adams that Crystalline Barnes was the owner of the Pontiac and the car had not been stolen. Adams said the Pontiac made one left-hand turn during this exchange.
¶4. Adams also testified that she radioed Corporal Taylor and asked him to help her conduct a traffic stop of the Pontiac. She said Taylor followed behind her, but they were separated when Taylor stopped at a red traffic light. Adams said the Pontiac started to weave, "[and] I'm thinking . . . maybe this is someone in the car that's . . . intoxicated or maybe sick or whatever, so I'm still following the vehicle." She said she was assessing the scene:
[T]he car was driving in a careless manner and traveling at low speed; and the car started to weave over the roadway. So I don't know what is wrong with this driver[,] . . . [but I'm] making a routine traffic stop.
¶5. Adams also testified that she was not involved in a pursuit because she was not attempting to make an arrest or apprehend a suspect. She stated, "just because I was trying to pull the car over, that doesn't mean that I was trying to apprehend anyone or take her to jail." Adams further explained she could have "given [the driver] a talk or wrote a ticket" because it was a routine traffic stop for careless driving. Specifically, the following exchange occurred during Adams's examination:
Adams also said the Pontiac's behavior was not evasive even though the driver did not immediately stop. She testified the time between the moment she initiated the blue lights and the moment the Pontiac stopped was about four minutes (1.23 miles). She further stated the entire distance of 1.23 miles was traveled at low speeds between ten and twenty miles per hour. Adams further explained the driver could have been experiencing a diabetic situation, and "when drivers are like that, they don't know that a vehicle is behind them." Adams said JPD does not allow officers "to call an ambulance until we actually know . . . the situation that we have." She also stated that JPD did not provide any training or detail regarding how long an officer should flash the blue lights before terminating a traffic stop if the driver does not stop. She explained that based on her training and reading and understanding of the policy, the officers must "assess the situation" and make a "judgment call" to determine when a routine traffic stop escalates to a pursuit.
¶8. Finally, Adams testified that her ninety-day suspension was...
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