Officer who fatally shot Dreasjon Reed withdraws lawsuit against NFL
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer who fatally shot a crime suspect after a chase has dismissed his lawsuit against the NFL.
Officer De’Joure Mercer had filed the lawsuit in June in federal court in Indianapolis. Mercer shot and killed Dreasjon Reed after a police chase in May 2020, an event that in part precipitated riots in downtown Indianapolis later that month.
Mercer’s attorneys dropped the lawsuit Thursday in a way that would allow them to refile it, in either state or federal court.
Attorneys Todd V. McMurtry and Guy A. Relford filed the lawsuit on Mercer’s behalf. McMurtry issued a statement on the withdrawal.
“Guy Relford and I are counsel for De’Joure Mercer. After filing the case, we learned that due to National Football League Enterprises’ business structure, our case lacked diversity of citizenship among the parties. This made the Indiana federal court the incorrect jurisdiction. So, we properly dismissed the case without prejudice. We are considering our options at this time. This is a common problem with LLCs and is a fairly complex issue to explain, so I won’t. Needless to say, this happens from time to time.”
Todd V. McMurtry
The lawsuit had cited NFL posts made on Twitter and Facebook after prosecutors and a grand jury declined to file charges against Mercer. Mercer says the NFL’s decision to include Reed in its Say Their Stories campaign amounts to defamation.
The lawsuit said, “Despite a highly-publicized investigation and other information that clearly exculpated Mercer of all wrongdoing, all of which was publicly available and was in fact possessed by and known to one of the National Football League’s teams, the Indianapolis Colts, the NFLE (NFL Enterprises ) published several online statements accusing Mercer of police misconduct.”
The NFL’s Say Their Stories campaign included the names of victims of police misconduct as part of a push for social justice in 2020.
“The NFLE’s Publications were a substantial factor in causing public hatred and scorn to perpetuate against Mercer,” the lawsuit said.
It also said the social media posts diminished Mercer’s standing in the community and denigrated his fitness to be a police officer.
“Even if Mercer is deemed a public figure, subject to establishing the ‘actual malice’ standard of fault, the NFLE acted with actual malice: it either knew the statements it was publishing about Mercer were false, or acted with reckless disregard to the statements’ truth or falsity.”
Mercer, who was born and raised in greater Indianapolis, has worked with IMPD since 2015. Attorneys Todd V. McMurtry and Guy A. Relford filed the lawsuit on Mercer’s behalf.
Reed, 21, was shot and killed after a chase on May 6, 2020. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says Reed fired shots at an officer in an exchange of gunfire. The incident also involved a chase with speeds that topped out around 90 mph, police said. Reed streamed the chase on Facebook Live.
