U.S. Border Patrol Agent Dustin Sato-Smith was driving an agency van last year on Campo Road near the U.S.-Mexico border when he received a radio call requiring his attention in the opposite direction.
Driving at night on the rural, two-lane highway, the agent waited to make a U-turn until he reached an area he thought would be safe, his attorney wrote in court documents. But as Sato-Smith started his turn, 37-year-old Jacumba Hot Springs resident Ellis James Woodall was beginning to on his Kawasaki motorcycle.
Woodall slammed into the driver’s side of the Border Patrol van, ending up pinned under its right rear tire. He died at the scene.
A California Highway Patrol investigation later determined Sato-Smith, who’d been airlifted to a hospital for his injuries, had committed an infraction by “making his U-turn … directly into the path” of the motorcycle. The CHP concluded the agent was at fault for the deadly collision and should be charged. On Valentine’s Day this year, the county District Attorney’s Office charged Sato-Smith in El Cajon Superior Court with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.
But that prosecution is now on hold after Sato-Smith and his attorney successfully sought to move the case to federal court, where the agent, as a federal government employee, has claimed absolute immunity from state court criminal proceedings under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“If Defendant were able to prove that he reasonably believed his actions were necessary and proper in the performance of his duties, he would be completely immune from all criminal liability,” his attorney, Rick Pinckard, wrote in court documents.
The involvement of a Border Patrol agent and other details of the crash, which occurred around 8 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2023, have not previously been reported.
The case highlights an infrequently used portion of law — and the somewhat complex legal maneuvering involved — by which a criminal defendant employed by the federal government can turn a state criminal case into a federal civil case, at least until a judge determines the validity of the immunity claim. As part of the same process, Sato-Smith started out being prosecuted by the county District Attorney’s Office and will now be defended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The rarity of such cases is due to the infrequency with which federal employees are charged with violating state laws, according to Pinckard. While employees of state and local governments who are accused of crimes are frequently charged in either state court or federal court, federal government employees are almost always charged in federal court. That’s in part to avoid immunity claims brought under the Supremacy Clause — a constitutional principle establishing that federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws. Subsequent regulations ed by Congress also give the federal government or its employees the legal right to move any criminal or civil case filed against them in state court to federal court.
The Border Patrol did not respond to questions about the case, and it is unclear if Sato-Smith faced any internal or istrative discipline in relation to the deadly crash.
A CHP spokesperson said it was likely a simple oversight, potentially due to it happening on a Sunday night, that details of a fatal crash involving a Border Patrol agent were not previously released to the public. Shortly after the crash, the county Medical Examiner’s Office reported the victim’s name and some details of the incident but did not disclose that a Border Patrol van was involved.
Sato-Smith pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in Superior Court on the vehicular manslaughter charge in March. The next month, Pinckard requested the case be moved to federal court, writing that his client was performing his duties as a federal agent when the crash occurred and was thus immune from a state prosecution.
According to the filing requesting the transfer to federal court, Sato-Smith was assigned to the Campo Border Patrol Station. Part of his duties included transporting apprehended people in a Chevrolet Express van. On the night of the crash, he was driving alone headed west between Campo and Potrero when he received a radio call that undocumented migrants appeared to be staging near the border east of his location.
“When Defendant received the service radio call, he was at the crest of a hill and believed it would be unsafe to execute a U-turn at that location,” Pinckard wrote. Instead, according to the attorney, Sato-Smith waited to make the turn until he approached Bell Valley Truck Trail, a dirt road that splits off from the two-way highway in a slight valley offering views in both directions. The agent slowed from 40 mph to 10 mph to make the turn, his attorney wrote, and didn’t see Woodall until the motorcycle slammed into the driver’s side of the van.
U.S. District Judge James Simmons Jr. must now hold an evidentiary hearing to determine if Sato-Smith was discharging his duties as a federal agent at the time of the crash — or in essence, if his absolute immunity claim is valid.
According to Pinckard, the California Attorney General’s Office will take over the prosecutorial role from the District Attorney’s Office in the evidentiary hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. As for Sato-Smith, he had the choice to keep Pinckard, his retained attorney, or be represented at no cost by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which typically defends federal agencies and their employees in civil suits. On Friday, the agent notified the judge that he intends to be defended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If Simmons determines that Sato-Smith was not performing his duties as a federal agent at the time of the crash, the case would likely be remanded back to Superior Court where the District Attorney’s Office would once again take over the prosecution. The agent would face up to one year in custody if convicted.
But if the judge determines Sato-Smith was discharging his duties as a federal agent, he can invoke immunity. Said Pinckard: “The case would end there.”
