A federal judge in San Diego dismissed a vehicular manslaughter case against a local Border Patrol agent, ruling that as a federal agent, he is immune from state prosecution because he was acting within the scope of his authority when he was involved in a fatal accident with a motorcyclist last year.

County prosecutors charged Trooper Dustin Sato-Smith in state court with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the collision death of Jacumba Hot Springs resident Ellis James Woodall near Potrero. But Sato-Smith successfully petitioned to move her case to federal courtwhere he claimed absolute immunity from criminal proceedings in state courts.

Sato-Smith argued that he was doing his job as a federal agent at the time of the February 2023 crash and was therefore protected by the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, a principle that states that federal laws have priority over conflicting state laws.

U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with Sato-Smith and ruled that the officer was performing his necessary job duties and responding to an emergency. In a written ruling issued Monday, Simmons granted Sato-Smith’s motion to dismiss the case and acquitted him of the state charge of involuntary manslaughter.

“The defendant argues that his U-turn that caused the collision in this case was necessary and appropriate, in the reasonable performance of his duties, and was related to the requirement to arrive at the location of the call for service,” Simmons wrote. “The Court agrees.”

A spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said the office “accepts the court’s decision.”

The fatal crash occurred around 8 p.m. on February 19, 2023, on Campo Road near the US-Mexico border. Sato-Smith was driving a Border Patrol transport van on the rural two-lane highway when he heard a radio call about possible undocumented immigrants preparing to cross the border.

Sato-Smith decided to respond to the call, which required him to turn the van around and drive in the opposite direction. According to his attorney, the officer waited to make the U-turn until he reached an area he thought would be safe. But as Sato-Smith began the U-turn, Woodall approached from behind on his Kawasaki motorcycle and began a legal passing maneuver in the opposite lane.

Woodall, 37, crashed into the driver’s side of the Border Patrol van as it turned into its path, ending up trapped under the right rear tire. He died at the scene. The involvement of a Border Patrol agent and other details of the crash were first reported by the Union-Tribune in July.

A California Highway Patrol investigation later determined that Sato-Smith, who had been airlifted to a hospital for his injuries, had committed a violation by “making his U-turn…directly into the road” of the motorcycle. The CHP concluded that the officer was to blame for the fatal collision and should be charged. On Valentine’s Day this year, nearly a year after the fatal collision, the county District Attorney’s Office charged Sato-Smith with misdemeanor manslaughter.

It is rare for federal government employees to be accused of violating state laws because the Supremacy Clause largely protects them from prosecution in state courts. Congress has also passed regulations giving the federal government and its employees the legal right to transfer any criminal or civil case filed against them in state court to federal court. That’s what Sato-Smith did.

“The traffic collision was an unfortunate situation with a tragic outcome,” defense attorney Rick Pinckard told the Union-Tribune. “Nevertheless, the legal precedent upon which the court relies is necessary to maintain the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states, as it relates to federal officials performing their duties within the jurisdictional limits of a state. state”.

The District Attorney’s Office had argued that Sato-Smith should not be able to take the case to federal court because he was not responding to an emergency when the accident occurred. County prosecutors argued that if it had been, Sato-Smith would have activated his emergency lights and would not have slowed down before making the U-turn.

The judge rejected those arguments, arguing that the agent had to slow down to make a safe turn and did not activate his lights so as not to alert potential migrant smugglers that he was approaching.