{Charleston, West Virginia}...Late last week, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin dismissed parts of a federal lawsuit filed by Patricia Harrison, the mother of Brian Good. In 2009, several officers followed Good in a chase that ended near Pinch, with several police cruisers hemming in Good's vehicle. As Good continued to try to drive away, three officers, including Charleston Police Officer Jerry Jones, fired their weapons, and Good and Jones were killed. The lawsuit alleged that the city's training practices and the officers' negligent actions caused Good's death. Harrison originally filed the lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court, where it was dismissed, but her lawyers sought to move the case to federal court on claims that Good's constitutional rights were violated. Judge Goodwin also found that the officers involved, including Officer Christopher Burford, who allegedly fired the shot that killed Jones, were not liable for constitutional violations and that they carried qualified immunity from those violations because they were acting under the law when Good and Jones were killed. In March, Goodwin dismissed a lawsuit against the city filed on behalf of Jones' widow, Samantha.
