Court Opinion

ID: 9687608
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:39:17.048948+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:29.293588
License: Public Domain

SCHUMACHER, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. A police officer who has not committed a willful or malicious wrong is entitled to official immunity for actions that involve the exercise of judgment or discretion. Pletan v. Gaines, 494 N.W.2d 38, 40 (Minn.1992). As the majority concedes, Roussopoulos’ decision to assist Duell-man involved a weighing of factors and is protected by official immunity. It is this decision that entitles Roussopoulos to immunity, regardless of how and where he ultimately parked his car. See id. at 41 n. 2 (issue was whether pursuit should have been undertaken, or abandoned, not how pursuit of suspect should have been conducted).
Furthermore, even if the issue was how and where the car was parked, Roussopoulos was exercising his judgment on this score. Cf. Abo El Ela v. State, 468 N.W.2d 580, 582 (Minn.App.1991) (state trooper employed professional judgment in deciding how to pull over traffic violator). Roussopoulos parked where he did for reasons of safety and so that he and his police dog could assist in a potential search for the individuals who had run from the abandoned pickup truck. While there may be room for disagreement over what Roussopoulos did, the fact that Duell-man was injured does not justify substituting an after-the-fact evaluation of the situation for the decisions made by the officer at the scene. Pletan, 494 N.W.2d at 41. Second-guessing law enforcement officials in this fashion impinges on the ability of conscientious officers to perform their jobs as the community expects and demands, and defeats the purpose of official immunity. Id. I would affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.