San Diego Border Patrol agent cleared in fatal crash

A federal judge in San Diego dismissed a vehicular manslaughter case against a local Border Patrol agent, ruling that he was immune from state investigation because he was acting within his authority as a federal agent when he was involved in a fatal crash. a motorcyclist last year.

District prosecutors charged Agent Dustin Sato-Smith in state court with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the collision death of Jacumba Hot Springs resident Ellis James Woodall near Potrero. However Successfully petitioned to move Sato-Smith case to federal courtHe claimed absolute immunity from criminal proceedings in state court.

Sato-Smith argued that he was doing his job as a federal agent at the time of the February 2023 crash and was therefore protected by the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, a principle that establishes that federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws.

U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with Sato-Smith, ruling that the agent was performing essential job duties and responding to an emergency. In a written decision released Monday, Simmons granted Sato-Smith’s motion to dismiss the case and acquitted him of the state manslaughter charge.

“Defendant argues that the U-turn that led to the collision in this case was necessary and appropriate for the reasonable performance of his duties and was related to his obligation to arrive at the location where the call for service was made,” Simmons wrote. “The court agrees.”

A spokesman for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said the office “accepts the court’s decision.”

The fatal crash occurred on Feb. 19, 2023, around 8 p.m., on Campo Road near the U.S.-Mexico border. Sato-Smith was driving a Border Patrol transport van on a rural, two-lane highway when he heard a radio call about possible undocumented immigrants preparing to cross the border.

Sato-Smith decided to respond to the call, which required him to turn the van around and drive in the opposite direction. According to his lawyer, the agent waited to make a U-turn until he reached an area he thought would be safe. However, as Sato-Smith began the U-turn, Woodall was approaching from behind on his Kawasaki motorcycle and began a legal overtaking maneuver in the opposite lane.

Woodall, 37, hit the driver’s side of the Border Patrol van, swerved into its path and became wedged under the right rear tire. He died at the scene. The involvement of a Border Patrol agent and other details of the crash were first reported by the Union-Tribune in July.

A subsequent investigation by the California Highway Patrol determined that Sato-Smith, who was hospitalized for his injuries, had committed a violation by “making a U-turn directly into the path of the motorcycle.” The CHP concluded that the agent was at fault for the fatal collision and should be punished. On Valentine’s Day this year, almost a year after the fatal collision, the district attorney’s office charged Sato-Smith with misdemeanor manslaughter.

It is rare for federal government employees to be accused of violating state laws because the supremacy clause largely shields them from state court prosecutions. Congress also passed regulations giving the federal government and its employees the legal right to bring to federal court any criminal or civil case brought against them in state court. That’s what Sato-Smith did.

“The traffic collision was an unfortunate situation with tragic consequences,” defense attorney Rick Pinckard told the Union-Tribune. “However, the legal precedent upon which the court relies is necessary to maintain the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states, as it relates to federal officials performing their duties within the jurisdiction of a state.”

The District Attorney’s Office argued that Sato-Smith should not be able to take the case to federal court because he did not respond to an emergency when the crash occurred. District attorneys argued that if he had, Sato-Smith would have activated his emergency lights and failed to slow down before making a U-turn.

The judge rejected those claims, reasoning that the agent should have slowed down to make a safe turn and should not have turned on his lights so as not to warn potential immigrant smugglers of his approach.

First Publication Date: November 7, 2024 15:25 PST