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Abstract: 

In Deuser v. King, 24 S.W.3d 251 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000), the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment for a police officer under the doctrine of official immunity, by which public officials, including police officers, cannot be held personally liable for the performance of negligent acts strictly related to discretionary functions of their jobs. (Id. at 254.) The court held that a police officer cannot be sued for discretionary acts undertaken in his or her official capacity. “Discretionary acts” were defined as those requiring the “exercise of reason in the adaptation of means to an end and discretion in determining how or whether an act should be done or a course pursued.” (Id.) This article looks at the case of an intoxicated individual released by a police officer and later struck by a passing vehicle.

Keywords: Deuser v. King;

Affiliations:  1: Editor.