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Supreme Court could revive lawsuit against Texas officer who shot motorist stopped for unpaid tolls

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Supreme Court could revive lawsuit against Texas officer who shot motorist stopped for unpaid tolls
News

News

Supreme Court could revive lawsuit against Texas officer who shot motorist stopped for unpaid tolls

2025-01-23 03:02 Last Updated At:03:11

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed inclined to revive a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas police officer who shot a man to death during a traffic stop in Houston over unpaid tolls.

The justices appeared to be in broad agreement that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should take another look at the case of Ashtian Barnes, who died in his rental car in April 2016 on the shoulder of the Sam Houston Tollway.

Barnes was shot by the officer, Roberto Felix Jr., who jumped on the sill of the driver's door of Barnes' car as it began to pull away from the stop. Felix fired twice in two seconds because he “reasonably feared for his life,” his lawyers wrote in their Supreme Court brief.

Lower courts had dismissed the excessive force lawsuit filed against Felix by Barnes' mother, Janice Hughes. The issue before the justices is whether those lower courts used the right standard, evaluating Felix's actions only at the “moment of the threat” that caused him to shoot Barnes.

Lawyers for Hughes and the Justice Department said courts should use a wider lens, the “totality of the circumstances,” to evaluate the suit against Felix.

Taking all the circumstances into account, courts would find that Felix acted unreasonably by jumping onto the side of Barnes' car, Nathaniel Zelinsky, Hughes' lawyer, told the court.

The justices appeared headed for a narrow ruling that might simply say “the two-second rule is not the law,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said.

The Supreme Court’s decision could help clarify the standard judges apply nationwide, but it might not ultimately help Hughes. Even if Felix ultimately is found to have violated Barnes’ rights, the officer probably would be shielded from financial liability by a separate high court standard known as qualified immunity.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh posed several questions in which he appeared worried that a win for Hughes could make life more dangerous for police officers during traffic stops, when they might have to make decisions in a matter of seconds.

“The officer does not get the time we spent here today making the decision,” Kavanaugh said.

Barnes had been driving to pick up his girlfriend's daughter from day care when he was pulled over by Felix, who received a radio message that the license plate on Barnes' car had unpaid tolls associated with it. Barnes' girlfriend had rented the car and Barnes was unaware of the outstanding tolls, according to court records.

In siding with the officer, 5th Circuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham voiced regret that a “routine traffic stop has again ended in the death of an unarmed Black man.”

A decision is expected by early summer.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the last name of Janice Hughes' lawyer is Zelinsky, not Zelensky

From left, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson listen as President Donald Trump speaks during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)

From left, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson listen as President Donald Trump speaks during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

MUGHRAQA, Gaza strip (AP) — Israeli forces began withdrawing from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday, Israeli officials said, part of Israel's commitments under a tenuous ceasefire deal with Hamas that is moving ahead but faces a major test over whether the sides can negotiate its planned extension.

Israel agreed as part of the truce to remove its forces from the 4-mile (6-kilometer) Netzarim corridor, a strip of land that bisects northern Gaza from the south that Israel used as a military zone during the war.

At the start of the ceasefire last month, Israel began allowing Palestinians to cross Netzarim to head to their homes in the war-battered north, sending hundreds of thousands streaming across Gaza on foot and by car. The withdrawal of forces from the area will fulfill another commitment to the deal, which paused the 15-month war.

However, the sides appear to have made little progress on negotiating the deal's second phase, which is meant to extend the truce and lead to the release of more Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the sides, but the mission included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won’t lead to a breakthrough in extending the truce. Netanyahu is also expected to convene a meeting of key Cabinet ministers this week on the second phase of the deal.

Since it began on Jan. 19, the ceasefire deal has faced repeated obstacles and disagreements between the sides, underscoring its fragility. But it has held, raising hopes that the devastating war that led to seismic shifts in the Middle East may be headed toward an end.

On Sunday, cars heaped with belongings, including water tanks and suitcases, were seen heading north through a road that crosses Netzarim. Under the deal, Israel is supposed to allow the cars to cross through uninspected and there did not appear to be troops in the vicinity of the road.

The Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss troop movement with the media, did not disclose how many soldiers were withdrawing. Troops currently remain along Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt and a full withdrawal is expected to be negotiated in a later stage of the truce.

During the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for a pause in fighting, freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid to war-battered Gaza. The deal also stipulates that Israeli troops will pull back from populated areas of Gaza as well as the Netzarim corridor.

In the second phase, all remaining hostages would be released in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” But details beyond that are unclear and repeated stumbling blocks throughout the first phase and the deep mistrust between the sides have cast doubt on whether they can nail down the extension.

Israel has said it won’t agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capabilities are eliminated. Hamas says it won’t hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops from the territory.

Netanyahu meanwhile is under heavy pressure from his far-right political allies to resume the war after the first phase so that Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack on Israelis in their history, can be defeated. He is facing pressure from Israelis who are eager to see more hostages return home, especially after the gaunt appearances of the three male captives freed on Saturday stunned the nation.

Complicating things further is a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to relocate the population of Gaza and take ownership of the Palestinian territory. Israel has expressed openness to the idea while Hamas, the Palestinians and the broader Arab world have rejected it outright.

The suggested plan is saddled with moral, legal and practical obstacles. But it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic by Trump, to try to ratchet up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That grand deal appeared to be rattled on Sunday as Saudi Arabia condemned remarks by Netanyahu who said Palestinians could create their state in that territory.

Saudi Arabia said his remarks “aim to divert attention from the successive crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to.”

In an interview Thursday with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu said: “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

The United Arab Emirates, which reached a diplomatic recognition deal with Israel in 2020, also condemned Netanyahu’s remarks late Saturday.

The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 taken hostage, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Vast parts of the territory have been obliterated in the fighting, leaving many Palestinians returning to damaged or destroyed homes.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

FILE - Israeli soldiers drive near the northern Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers drive near the northern Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers wave to the camera from an APC as they cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers wave to the camera from an APC as they cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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