We received this message from SABR colleague/attorney Tony Cavander this morning:
“ In a Per Curiam opinion released today, the Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit’s opinion affirming the lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment to Bellaire, Texas police officers who wounded the son of former major league baseball player Bobby Tolan in an affray that took place on New Year’s Day 2008. The officers mistakenly believed that Tolan’s son was driving a stolen car, and this terrible encounter resulted; his son’s baseball career was terminated because of his injuries.. The Supreme Court held that this case should be heard by a jury, and that the Southern District of Texas trial court and the Fifth Circuit were in error in granting summary judgment to these officers.”
The ruling clearly supports the Bobby Tolan family in their pursuit of equity and justice for the permanent damage that has been visited upon their family as a result of the Bellaire police officer shooting Bobby Tolan, Jr. on his own property for making an abrupt move after being stopped in his own family’s driveway behind the wheel of what the officer mistakenly thought was a stolen car. The injury caused the end of a promising future in baseball for the young man.
Hopefully, this ruling will result in a new trial and a fair hearing by jury of what really happened in this sad case.
The Pecan Park Eagle invites everyone to comment on this matter as they see fit. We would especially hope to hear from Tony Cavender for any further thoughts he has about the real meaning of this apparent reversal by the Supreme Court.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
May 5, 2014 at 4:39 pm |
It is always uplifting to hear our supreme court act as it was intended. If we lose that court we’ve lost any hope of fairness and correctness. They’re not always right, but in a case like this it certainly pertains to the rights of each and every one of us, not just one individual.
May 6, 2014 at 5:35 am |
I followed this case from the start. It is a wretched tragedy for everyone involved. Apparently this ruling means the case now can go to a jury trial. What an ordeal, six years later. By the time it’s done as a legal matter it will have eaten a decade of time out of the lives of all the participants.