The N.C. Court of Appeals has ruled this morning that a woman shot by Asheville police during a 2007 car chase can move forward with her lawsuit against the three officers involved. The appellate judges affirmed most of the trial court’s ruling in the case, reversing only the portion of the original ruling dealing with the police chief. Reversing the lower court, the Appeals Court ruled that the chief cannot be sued in his individual capacity.

In other opinions released this morning:

  • A 2-1 decision offers Charlotte a mixed verdict in its dispute with Cedar Greene Apartments over garbage collection. The apartment complex wanted to hire — at lower cost — a vendor other than the city-approved company that provides trash collection services for apartment complexes in the city. Charlotte’s refusal to reimburse the apartment complex for use of an outside vendor led to the lawsuit.  A trial court favored the apartment complex and the outside vendor, but the Appeals Court reversed much of the trial court’s ruling. The court’s majority would allow the case to return to the trial court to resolve other issues, but a dissenting opinion at the appellate level could lead the case to the N.C. Supreme Court.
  • A unanimous three-judge panel reversed a lower court and allowed fired State Highway Patrol trooper Anthony Scott to move forward with a suit challenging his 2010 dismissal. At issue was whether Scott’s case should be thrown out for failure to pay a filing fee along with his initial complaint.
  • A unanimous three-judge panel affirmed a trial court ruling against Charlotte and Transit Management of Charlotte in a long-running suit stemming from a 2004 accident that injured plaintiff Lynda Springs.
  • A unanimous three-judge panel reversed a trial court ruling and ruled in favor of Wake Forest in its dispute over a billboard that stood for 45 years along U.S. 1 until the town ordered its removal as part of a shopping center development plan.
  • A unanimous three-judge panel affirmed a trial court ruling favoring Mount Pleasant in a dispute involving an unpaid bill for fire truck repairs.