San Diego Border Patrol agent cleared in fatal crash

A federal judge in San Diego has dismissed a vehicular manslaughter case against a local Border Patrol agent. He has ruled that as a federal agent he is immune from state prosecution because he acted within the scope of his authority when he was involved in a fatal crash with a motorcyclist last year.

County prosecutors have charged Officer Dustin Sato-Smith in state court with vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the collision that killed Jacumba Hot Springs resident Ellis James Woodall near Potrero. But Sato-Smith successfully petitioned to move his case to federal courtwhere he demanded 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 thus protected by the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, a principle that states federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws.

U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with Sato-Smith, ruling that the officer was performing his necessary duties and responding to an emergency. In a written ruling issued Monday, Simmons granted Sato-Smith’s request to dismiss the case and acquitted him of the state manslaughter charge.

“Defendant contends that his U-turn that led to the collision in this case was necessary and proper for the reasonable performance of his duties and was related to the need to arrive at the location of the call for service,” wrote Simmons. “The Court agrees.”

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

The fatal accident occurred around 8:00 PM on February 19, 2023 on Campo Road near the US-Mexico border. Sato-Smith was driving a Border Patrol transport van on the rural two-lane road when he heard a radio call about possible undocumented migrants 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 officer waited to make a U-turn until he reached an area he thought would be safe. But as Sato-Smith began his U-turn, Woodall approached from behind on his Kawasaki motorcycle and began a legal overtaking maneuver in the opposite lane.

Woodall, 37, struck the driver’s side of the Border Patrol van as it turned into his path and ended up stuck under the right rear tire. He died on the spot. The involvement of a Border Patrol agent and other details of the crash were first reported by the Union-Tribune in July.

A California Highway Patrol investigation later found that Sato-Smith, who had been transported to a hospital for his injuries, had committed a violation by “making his U-turn … directly into the path” of the motorcycle. The CHP concluded that the officer was at fault for the fatal collision and that he should be charged. On Valentine’s Day this year, nearly a year after the fatal collision, the county attorney charged Sato-Smith with the crime of manslaughter.

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

“The traffic accident was an unfortunate situation with a tragic outcome,” attorney Rick Pinckard told the Union-Tribune. “Nonetheless, the legal precedent relied upon by the court is necessary to maintain the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states as it pertains to federal officials performing their duties within the jurisdictional boundaries of a state.”

Prosecutors had argued that Sato-Smith should not be allowed to move the case to federal court because he was not responding to an emergency when the crash occurred. Prosecutors argued that if he had been, Sato-Smith would have activated his emergency lights and not slowed down before making the U-turn.

The judge rejected those arguments, reasoning that the officer had to slow down to make a safe turn and did not activate his lights so as not to warn potential migrant smugglers that he was approaching.

Originally published: November 7, 2024 at 3:25 PM PST