LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) – The family of a man shot and killed during production of the show “Cops” will not be able to recover damages from the City of Omaha.
The Nebraska Supreme Court reached that decision May 8 in a lawsuit stemming from the death of Bryce David Dion, who was part of a two-man production crew for “Cops” on Aug. 26, 2014.
The show and Omaha police officers were at a robbery at a fast food restaurant. Dion was shot by an Omaha cop as the officers fired a total of 36 times on the suspect, believing he’d brandished a weapon at them. It turned out to be a pellet gun.
The ensuing lawsuit alleged OPD owed Dion a special duty of care and protection and that officers negligently shot him while acting within the scope of their employment.
Omaha tried to force the production crew to defend, indemnify and insure it but lost a summary judgment ruling. A bench trial followed, and a Douglas County judge ruled against Dion’s estate.
The judge ruled Omaha was entitled to immunity from the suit and that Dion’s estate failed to prove negligence. The Supreme Court affirmed, finding negligence actions resulting from instances of battery were barred by sovereign immunity.
“The Estate concedes its wrongful death claim depends upon the theory that the officers’ acts of firing at the suspect were no longer privileged when the officers fired the bullet that killed Dion,” Justice John Freudenberg wrote.
“Thus, no matter how framed, the Estate’s negligence claim depends upon allegations that the injuries were caused by unprivileged harmful or offensive contact, which in substance is an allegation that the injuries were caused by a battery.”