‘Govt unlikely to be held liable to Vitug’s estate’

It is unlikely that the CNMI government would be held liable in a shooting situation like what happened recently in Garapan where Police Officer 1 Christopher S. Santos reportedly fatally shot his former girlfriend before shooting himself, according to veteran lawyer Michael W. Dotts.

Asked by Saipan Tribune for expert opinion, Dotts pointed out that the government can sometimes be held liable if a police officer uses “excessive force” in making an arrest.

“Using excessive force is when more than force than necessary is used to arrest a person (or protect the officer or the public) and the person arrested is injured or killed,” he said.

The lawyer said the government can be held liable for an officer’s use of excessive force because the officer is acting on behalf of the government when making the arrest.

Dotts, however, pointed out that if a police officer is not acting on behalf of the government when the officer uses excessive force, like in a domestic violence with that officer’s girlfriend, the government is not liable.

Dotts said if the government knew that the officer had a mental illness or emotional problem that made the officer dangerous, and still provided the officer with a gun, it is probable the government would be held liable.

“If the officer had made threats to his girlfriend and his supervisors knew about the threats and did not act to take away the officer’s gun or suspend the officer, then the government could be held liable,” Dotts said.

Additionally, the lawyer said, the government could be held liable if the government was negligent in hiring the officer.

Dotts said if the officer had a history of domestic abuse or other violence or mental health problems and the government overlooked that history when the government hired the officer, the government could be held liable, he said.

The lawyer said the government could be held liable if it failed to properly train the officer.

“For example, if the officer used what the officer thought was appropriate force, like a choke hold, because the officer had not been trained not to use a choke hold, and a death or injury resulted, the government could be held liable for failing to train the officer,” he said.

Dotts said the cause of action in a lawsuit when a person is killed is called “wrongful death.”

Dotts said in a wrongful death action brought against the government, the most that can be recovered by the estate of the person who died is $50,000.

He said if the victim is injured but not killed the victim can recover up to $100,000 from the government.

“If this seems backwards the theory is that a person who is injured will need money for medical care and rehabilitation but a person killed will not need that money. So the relatives of the person who is killed get less than a person who is only injured,” Dotts added.

Officer Santos fatally shot Joana Vitug, then himself in the head inside the Mailman and Kara law offices in Garapan where she worked as a paralegal last Dec. 19.

Vitug, 30, and Santos, 24, have one child together. Vitug has three other children.

Police said according to witness accounts, Santos and Vitug engaged in a minor verbal altercation before the on-duty officer fired his DPS-issued firearm at her before firing upon himself.

Both Santos and Vitug were rushed to the Commonwealth Healthcare Center, where they succumbed to their injuries, police said.