Posted on 12/05/2005 8:01:43 AM PST by Millee
Lawyers say it appears to be a first of its kind case in Colorado. A Denver woman is suing a 911 dispatcher for not sending police after two emergency calls for help.Le Thu Nguyen was killed in 2001 after she was kidnapped and murdered by her ex-fiance, Omar Green. A witness and Nguyen's mother called 911 during and just after the kidnapping, but the 911 dispatcher who answered both calls wouldn't send police.
The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act outlines when citizens can sue the government and when they can't. In this case, the city of Aurora is immune from a lawsuit so the city is not named as a defendant.
The rules are different for when citizens can sue government employees individually, so Nguyen's mother has filed a lawsuit against the individual dispatcher who took the calls, Jeanette Price.
Susan DuVall, Nguyen's mother, says she still can't believe that when she called to report that her daughter was being kidnapped, that Price didn't believe her.
"I knew it was serious. I needed to give her the main concern of this call, her life was in danger," DuVall said.
Price didn't send emergency help even though an eyewitness, John Chauvin, who called 911 and talked to Price minutes earlier - while the kidnapping was still in progress.
Here is part of a transcript from Chauvin's 911 call to Price: "This black guy jumps into this Asian lady's car, like she was squealing away from him, and then he parked it in the parking lot still - he's still in the car with her."
Emergency help was never sent. Nguyen's body was found the next day.
The city of Aurora is now defending Price in the lawsuit brought by DuVall on behalf of Nguyen's two surviving children. The city says Price was reprimanded for her handling of the calls, but in court papers, the city has argued that there is "no evidence" that Price's actions were "anything more than simple negligence."
9News legal analyst Scott Robinson says that wording is key, since proving negligence isn't enough to win a case against a government employee.
"It isn't enough to show that the 911 operator didn't do her job very well," Robinson said. "They have to show that she was willful and wanton, which essentially means that she completely disregarded the rights of a human being and ignored the emergency calls."
Susan DuVall's attorneys, Gregory Gold of Greenwood Village and Jeffrey Hill of Colorado Springs, argue that this case rises to that higher level. They cite Price's tone of voice and her repeated attempts to end the 911 calls after being told of the urgency of the situation.
"How much more of an emergency do you want before you send the police?" Gold asks.
Because of statutory caps - if DuVall makes it to court and wins - then most experts say she could hope to collect is $150,000 dollars per child.
If that happens, the unresolved question becomes this: Would Price have to pay it herself - or would the city pay it for her. Robinson says while the city is legally obligated to defend Price, the city is not obligated to pay a judgment if Price's conduct is found to be "willful and wanton".
Because the case is still pending, the city of Aurora said Jeanette Price would not be able to comment.
Omar Green, Nguyen's ex-fiance, was convicted of her murder.
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It will go nowhere.
Warren vs District of Columbia.
Government is not responsible for protecting you as an individual, but society as a whole.
More anti-cop garbage...
I guess we'll wait for YOU to defend everyone from criminals.
Cops in Denver are only too happy to call people who would defend themselves from criminals, criminals themselves. Aurora has copied many of Denver's anti-gun laws themselves, so that they can do the very same thing.
I love our 911 system here in East Tennessee.
We were run off the road a couple weeks ago by a drunk driver. We got back on the road behind him and called 911. We were connected to the Anderson County Sheriff's department - explained where we were and which way we were going. They dispatched a vehicle and handed us off to the Oliver Springs PD. They dispatched a vehicle as well and asked us to stay on the line while they were routing the intercepts in. We did so, and within about 5 minutes, there were two OSPD cruisers and an Anderson County Sheriff's cruiser coming in behind us with lights on - just as the guy about ran another vehicle off the road. Total time from call to intercept was about 7 minutes.
Based on this transcript, there is an important lesson if you ever call 911. Do not try to downgrade the seriousness of the call. Make it sound urgent. The dispatcher asked if they were fighting. Don't give the perpetrator the benefit of the doubt. Tell the dipatcher emphatically 'yes.' Don't be wishy-washy about it, otherwise, why are you calling 911?
Many get sued and lose for their negligence all the time. Not a very good argument.
"Many get sued and lose for their negligence all the time. Not a very good argument."
Actually, it's an excellent argument for a government agency. They have "govenmental immunity," and have to been shown to be really, really, intentionally reckless to lose.
"Gun control groups lie, women die!"
I guess it wasn't that long ago (less than a year) that Denver PD shot and killed a guy while serving a high risk warrant.
Unfortunately, they got the address wrong. I know someone got sued for that.
They need to adopt FDLE (Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement) standards nationwide. Our academies are long, crammed w/ info, and followed by an equally rigorous exam. Then you go to whatever agency hires you for OJT.
Looking at this and recalling similar things in the passt, I get the sense that some people have a genetic predisposition to be smug, controlling SOBs and they live all the way up to their potential.
I could understand it if they dispatched the ambulance, and THEN tried to coach a resuscitation. But instead they argued on the phone while my father-in-law died of heart congestion. Basically he drowned.
I'd bet money that they were trying to save money by not dispatching an ambulance right off, hoping they wouldn't need to.
The dispatcher reaction is not all that outrageous given the information the caller is giving her. Her attitude is also not that bad. I've called 911 or the non-emergency police line on many occasions and most of the time the dispatchers were far more surly than this one.
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