HANNIBAL — The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in the Northern Division dismissed a case against the Missouri State Highway Patrol and related individuals after a man died in a high-speed police chase.
Lavoy Steed died on May 11, 2014 while riding as a passenger in a car that crashed during the chase.
Plaintiffs sued under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act.
The court determined, however, that the plaintiffs could not sue the highway patrol under Section 1983 because it only applied to actual people.
The court also ruled that co-defendants J.A. Ashby and Brent Fowler, who are highway patrol officers, also could not be sued under Section 1983, since the law could not be applied to state officials, the court said.
U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey ruled on the case and issued his decision on Jan. 8.