High Court Reverses Lower Court Decision

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sided with a Texas state trooper who was sued after he fatally shot a man fleeing from officers during a 2010 high-speed chase outside Amarillo.

The court ruled Monday that Trooper Chadrin Mullenix did not violate the constitutional rights of Israel Leija Jr. when he shot six times at the speeding car from a highway overpass.

The unsigned opinion reversed a lower court decision that allowed a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Leija's family to go forward against Mullenix.

Mullenix shot at the car after Leija led police on a 25-mile high-speed chase, was reportedly intoxicated and had twice called a police dispatcher threatening to shoot officers if they did not stop pursuing him.