by Dave Waddell
posted Oct. 6
On the eve of a long-awaited civil rights trial over their late son’s tasing by Chico police, Scott and Paula Rushing are “cautiously optimistic” about getting justice for Tyler.
The Estate of Tyler Rushing v. City of Chico will be tried beginning at 9 a.m. Monday (Oct. 7) in Courtroom 4 on the 15th floor of the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse, 501 “I” Street, in Sacramento. Judge Dale A. Drozd of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California will preside.
On Oct. 4, Drozd issued a tentative decision on various motions. Scott Rushing characterized the overall ruling as “about the best we could get” given previous court decisions. Critically, from the Rushings’ standpoint, Drozd will permit the jury to learn what Rushing called “the totality of circumstances” that led up to Tyler’s tasing. The City wanted testimony restricted to the tasing itself.
Tyler Rushing was 34 when he was killed.
Scott Rushing said he expects Monday’s (Oct. 7) court time to be taken up with the selection of an eight-person jury, as well as having Drozd hear any final disputes over what evidence the jury will be permitted to consider. After a day off Tuesday, Rushing expects the trial to resume Wednesday with opening statements and the plaintiff’s experts’ testimonies.
Drozd took over the case from the now-retired Morris England, who, in 2020, without a court hearing, granted the City’s motion to dismiss the Rushing lawsuit in its entirety.
However, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit partly reversed England, ordering unanimously that the trial proceed, but only on the tasing portion of the incident and not Tyler’s killing. The appellate court declined to grant qualified immunity from civil damages to Alex Fliehr, the officer who tased Tyler after he was shot to the floor and lay prone in his own blood. Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that shields government officials from lawsuits unless the plaintiff can prove the official clearly violated a constitutional right.
In his ruling, Drozd summarized the trial’s purpose: “In short … this trial will focus on Fliehr’s deployment of the taser under the circumstances and, if found to be an excessive use of force, whether any other defendant is also liable for failure to adequately supervise Fliehr in that specific regard or by failing to prevent his taser shot.”
Omar Peña, then a sergeant and now a lieutenant, provided the taser used by Fliehr, and Billy Aldridge, then a lieutenant and now police chief, was the on-scene watch commander the night Tyler died.
Scott Rushing said he was surprised to learn that Fliehr was recently promoted to sergeant by Chico PD. Fliehr, along with Jeremy Gagnebin, killed Desmond Phillips, a 25-year-old Black and Miwok Native man in mental crisis, four months before he tased Tyler.
“I think it’s an attempt to make Fliehr look good to the jury,” Scott Rushing said. “It’s a ploy.”
On the night of his death, July 23, 2017, Tyler Rushing attacked and cut private security guard Edgar Sanchez with a glass flowerpot. Sanchez then shot Tyler in the chest, sending him fleeing into the women’s restroom at Mid Valley Title & Escrow at Sixth and Main streets in Chico. During the police’s subsequent siege on the restroom, Rushing stabbed Sgt. Ruppel in the neck with a pen he had pulled from another officer’s shirt pocket. Though his injury was minor, Ruppel shot Tyler while he was being held by two other officers. Rushing fell to the floor motionless, and Fliehr tased him about 70 second later.
It’s been a long and winding road to trial for the Rushings – seven years and three months since Tyler’s killing — with the City of Chico even trying and failing at one point to get the U.S. Supreme Court to kill their lawsuit.
“Paula and I are cautiously optimistic about the trial,” Scott Rushing said. “We believe we have a compelling case. We are appreciative that the legal system has allowed us to show a jury of everyday people that the violence inflicted on Tyler by the Chico Police Department and others was unethical, shocking, and immoral.”
Aldridge has told ChicoSol in the past that the City “does not allow any employee to speak on cases with pending litigation.”
Pursuing their lawsuit has come at a price — emotionally and financially – for the Rushings, who reside in Ventura, as did Tyler. Scott Rushing is a realtor and property manager. Paula Rushing was a longtime public elementary school teacher until the trauma of Tyler’s death forced her into early retirement.
“The emotional struggle has been tough, but the financial expenses have been an investment, not a cost, to expose the violent culture within the Chico Police Department,” Scott Rushing said.
Tyler Rushing was 34 when killed. His father called him “a good man, a kind and peaceful soul.” He operated a window-washing business and helped his dad manage properties. According to his parents, when leaving someone’s company, Tyler would often part with the message “peace, love and positivity,” or “PLP,” as he abbreviated it.
“He was treated worse than a wild animal who is shot with a tranquilizer dart when they are not where they are supposed to be,” Scott Rushing said. “We believe Tyler would want Paula and I to do everything in our power to prevent another person from suffering and dying as he did. That belief has sustained us.”
Dave Waddell is a contributor to ChicoSol and will cover the federal court trial.