Corey Jones

Public Service Journalism Team

A judge granted qualified immunity Friday to a former Skiatook police officer accused in a lawsuit of intentionally crashing into and killing a motorcyclist, who fled the officer’s attempted stop for speeding and led her on a chase into a construction site in Tulsa in May 2022.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lyons, who is representing Michael Wade McKee’s widow, said Monday that he will appeal the outcome.

U.S. District Judge John D. Russell issued summary judgment in favor of former Officer Leianne Richards on all federal civil rights claims based on her qualified immunity defense.

To overcome a claim of qualified immunity, a judicial doctrine, a plaintiff would have to show that a violation of a constitutional right occurred and that the ri

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