Attorneys spar over deadly police chase lawsuit involving Sparkman student

DECATUR – A Morgan County judge last Wednesday heard arguments over whether a civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal police pursuit of a Sparkman High football player should be allowed to proceed.

The family of 16-year-old Jaiden DeJarnett is still seeking answers about the multi-county, high-speed chase that ended with his death in the early morning hours of Sept. 4, 2023. It began near Whataburger on Beltline Road in Decatur after authorities say the teen departed the restaurant with his lights off.

Decatur police officers, including former officer Mac Marquette, followed DeJarnett and pulled him over before the teen then sped away, according to a video exhibit referenced by city defendants. The ensuing chase lasted at least 20 minutes and reached speeds over 120 mph.

DeJarnett ultimately lost control of his vehicle and crashed after driving over railroad tracks in Lawrence County. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

His grandfather, Reginald McKenzie, brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, its former mayor and police chief, Marquette and other officers in July, a day after he amended a similar lawsuit in federal court alleging civil rights violations against the same defendants.

The lawsuits claimed the Decatur Police Department incentivized risky and aggressive policing through a merits- based reward system that was at odds with its own pursuit policy, which said chases should be terminated when they become unreasonably dangerous.

At issue last Wednesday was whether the state claim should be allowed to proceed, since Alabama law generally prohibits simultaneous lawsuits over the same issue.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell, who heard arguments from all sides, had not yet decided the issue as of Thursday afternoon.

Weeks after DeJarnett died, Marquette and the Police Department came under scrutiny for another deadly incident: the fatal shooting of Steve Perkins during a botched vehicle repossession. That case remains pending as a Morgan County judge is set to decide whether Marquette, who is charged with murder, should be immune from prosecution.

Marquette’s attorney, Jeff Thompson, argued Wednesday that he should also be immune from claims in the DeJarnett lawsuit.

“He was the one who initially made the decision to attempt the stop,” Thompson said. “After he made that decision … he fell back in that chase and was nowhere near the crash when the crash happened.”

Allison Chandler, the attorney for Marquette’s co-defendants, argued her clients should be immune from prosecution, too. More importantly, she emphasized, the state lawsuit should be dismissed because of the pending federal case.

The federal lawsuit initially included a wrongful death claim, pursuant to state law, along with the allegations of civil rights violations when it was filed last August.

In June, U.S. District Judge Harold Mooty III found that the complaint did not adequately allege civil rights violations and dismissed it, although he allowed 30 days for an amendment. He did not extend supplemental jurisdiction to the state claim.

Stanley Stallworth, the attorney for DeJarnett’s family, dropped the wrongful death claim when he amended the federal complaint in July. He then filed the state wrongful death claim in Morgan County.

“It blatantly violates Alabama’s prohibition on claim splitting,” Chandler argued. “The statute specifically states that no plaintiff is entitled to prosecute two actions in the courts of this state — and that includes federal court — at the same time, for the same cause. And that’s exactly what we have here.”

Stallworth, however, contended that there are no duplicative claims in the federal and state lawsuits.

“It would make no sense for the federal court to decline supplemental jurisdiction and send the wrongful death claim to state court, only for the (claims splitting statute) to be wielded here,” he said, adding that his clients will have no legal recourse if Howell doesn’t allow the state claim to proceed.

The federal lawsuit remained pending Thursday, although the defendants have moved to dismiss it. None of the defendants appeared in court last Wednesday. DeJarnett’s family and supporters, including Perkins’ widow, watched from the gallery.

Evidence

Stallworth stressed in court that the lawsuits’ allegations are based on the limited information the family has at this stage of the proceedings. If either the state or federal lawsuit goes forward, the defendants will be compelled to share any evidence in their possession.

“The defendants are going through a great extent to keep us from seeing the actual evidence,” he argued in court.

Stallworth said, despite several requests to view video evidence of the pursuit, the first time he saw dashcam video was when the defendants submitted it in an effort to dismiss the federal lawsuit. The video did not include audio.

He said his clients still don’t know why Marquette fell back during the pursuit, what was communicated to dispatch, what authorization was given to continue the pursuit, whether a vehicle interdiction device was placed in DeJarnett’s path, and other information.

“These are the kinds of things these parents must be allowed to know, understand and interpret,” Stallworth said. “All we have are the cherry-picked portions of video. We have no indication that the supervisor approved this out-of-jurisdiction pursuit.”

Chandler argued that the Police Department’s pursuit policy specifically stated the rules were “merely guidelines.”

“The policy says, of course, that the discretion is with officers,” she said. “And the Alabama Supreme Court has found that this is exactly the kind of language that immunity is for.”

After some back and forth, Howell said she would issue a decision as soon as she could.

“Obviously, it’s a tragedy, and I understand that everybody in the room is affected by it,” she said.