Rejecting an appeal by Dallas police officers, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on May 31 to allow a lawsuit to proceed against them after Tony Timpa, a mentally ill man, died in police custody.
The case goes back to August 2016 when Timpa, 32, called 911 to report that he was “having a lot of anxiety” about a man he said he was afraid would harm him. Timpa said during the call that he suffered from schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder, but had failed to take his medication that day. When police responded to the scene, Timpa cried out, “You’re gonna kill me!” according to a summary in Reason.
A security guard handcuffed Timpa and then the police held him face down on the ground for about 15 minutes, which made it difficult to breathe. He repeatedly asked for help. A private autopsy concluded that Timpa “died due to mechanical asphyxia.” The local medical examiner found that he experienced “sudden cardiac death due to the toxic effects of cocaine and physiological stress associated with physical restraint.” The examiner noted that because of “his prone position and physical restraint by an officer, an element of mechanical or positional asphyxia cannot be ruled out.”
The City of Dallas fought efforts to release body camera video from police. Eventually the footage was released. It shows police mocking Timpa as he’s dying.
Geoff Henley, an attorney for Timpa’s family, told the Fox affiliate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“The decision means that the case can proceed to trial and that there will be no more delays from any appellate court,” Henley said. “Also, the decision means that the Fifth Circuit did it right that their ruling regarding deadly force will be the law of the land at least in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana for as long as we know.”
The Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari, or review, from the officers on May 31 in Dillard v. Timpa, court file 21-1396. In accordance with its usual practice when denying a petition, the court provided no reasons for its decision.
The petitioners in the case are police officers Dustin Dillard, Danny Vasquez, Raymond Dominguez, and Kevin Mansell. The lead respondent is Timpa’s mother, Vicki Timpa, who’s also a representative of her son’s estate.
On July 6, 2020, a federal district court judge ruled in favor of the police officers, finding that they enjoyed qualified immunity, a controversial legal principle criticized by civil libertarians.
“Qualified immunity is not immunity from having to pay money damages, but rather immunity from having to go through the costs of a trial at all. Accordingly, courts must resolve qualified immunity issues as early in a case as possible, preferably before discovery,” the law school’s website reads.
On Dec. 15, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rejected qualified immunity and reversed the district court decision, allowing the litigation to proceed. A request to rehear the case was denied on Jan. 22.
The Epoch Times reached out to counsel in the Supreme Court case for comment.
Nicholas D. Palmer of the Dallas City Attorney’s Office replied by email, “We have no comment.”
San Francisco attorney Easha Anand, who represented the Timpa family in the Supreme Court appeal, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
