Fales v. County of Stanton, 898 N.W.2d 352

At ~12:45 a.m., two minors, Irish (driver) and Fales (passenger), left a party after drinking; a Stanton County deputy, Petersen, followed their pickup after observing driving behavior and activated emergency lights for a turn-signal violation.
After seeing the deputy’s lights, the driver accelerated; during the flight, Fales threw a 30-pack box of beer (and cans) out the window; Petersen reported on the radio that beer was being thrown and viewed that as destruction of evidence.
The pickup later crashed on a curve at high speed; Fales suffered catastrophic injuries (paralysis).
Fales sued the County under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-911 claiming he was an “innocent third party” injured by a law enforcement vehicular pursuit; he also pleaded negligence under § 60-6,114.
The district court found Fales lost innocent-third-party status when he threw beer (observed by Petersen) and entered judgment for the County; the County’s cross-appeal raised constitutional challenges to § 13-911 but the trial court declined to resolve them.
The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed, holding the factual findings were not clearly erroneous and that Fales became a person sought to be apprehended when he discarded the beer.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Fales was an “innocent third party” under § 13-911	Fales argued he remained an innocent third party because the pursuit began for a traffic violation and he was not the initial target	County argued Fales became a person sought to be apprehended when he discarded beer during the pursuit, observed by the deputy	Court held Fales lost innocent-third-party status when he threw beer out of the vehicle, so § 13-911 does not apply to him
Whether court must decide County’s constitutional challenge to § 13-911	Fales: not directly argued on appeal (primary appeal focused on innocent-third-party issue)	County: urged § 13-911 (strict liability) is unconstitutional/conflicts with other statutes	Court declined to reach the constitutional cross-appeal as unnecessary after affirming judgment for the County

Werner v. County of Platte, 284 Neb. 899 (passenger innocent third party where officer did not know passenger was breaking law during pursuit)
Henery v. City of Omaha, 263 Neb. 700 (legislature concerned with third party actions as they relate to driver’s flight)
Jura v. City of Omaha, 15 Neb. App. 390 (passenger in stolen vehicle was a person sought to be apprehended)
Williams v. City of Omaha, 291 Neb. 403 (standards for appellate review in Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act cases)
Adair Asset Mgmt. v. Terry’s Legacy, 293 Neb. 32 (appellate courts need not decide unnecessary issues)