U.S. Supreme Court rules against Houston man paralyzed in 2010 police shooting But Sotomayor backs local man shot by officer

Portrait of Ricardo Salazar, 27, a father of three who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after he was shot in the back by an HPD officer who stopped him for speeding on the Southwest Freeway Tuesday, June 4, 2013, in Houston. The officer suspected Salazar had been drinking, and ordered him to the rear of the pickup he was driving. There was a brief confrontation, and the construction worker turned his back on the officer and was walking to his truck when the officer shot him once in the back. Salazar has filed a lawsuit against the city of Houston for violation of his civil rights and using excessive force. ( Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle ) less Portrait of Ricardo Salazar, 27, a father of three who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after he was shot in the back by an HPD officer who stopped him for speeding on the Southwest Freeway ... more Photo: Johnny Hanson, Staff Photo: Johnny Hanson, Staff Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close U.S. Supreme Court rules against Houston man paralyzed in 2010 police shooting 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The nation's highest court has rejected attempts to revive a civil rights lawsuit brought by a Houston paint contractor who was shot in the back and paralyzed by a police offer in 2010.

In declining to hear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed that lower courts acted properly in granting Houston Police Officer Chris Thompson qualified immunity in the shooting incident, which took place following a late-night traffic stop on the Southwest Freeway.

Thompson stated he feared for his life as an apparently intoxicated Ricardo Salazar-Limon walked away from him after resisting arrest. Thompson claimed the man was reaching toward his waistband beneath an untucked shirt when he fired, though it turned out Salazar-Limon was not armed.

In a forceful dissent to the high court's unwillingness to consider the case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said a jury should have been allowed to address Salazar-Limon's assertion that the police officer acted without provocation. He denied pushing Thompson and claimed he was only walking back toward his pickup. He also denied reaching into his waistband.

"The question whether the officer used excessive force in shooting Salazar-Limon thus turns in large part on which man is telling the truth," Sotomayor wrote. "Our legal system entrusts this decision to a jury."

Sotomayor, joined in dissent by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, wrote that issuing summary judgment in favor of police is appropriate only when significant facts are not in dispute. She said she was troubled by a "disturbing trend" of instances of alleged excessive police force that never resulted in a trial because judges continually grant qualified immunity.

"Only Thompson and Salazar-Limon know what happened on that overpass on October 29, 2010," Sotomayor said. "It is possible that Salazar-Limon did something that Thompson reasonably found threatening; it is also possible that Thompson shot an unarmed man in the back without justification. What is clear is that our legal system does not entrust the resolution of this dispute to a judge faced with competing affidavits."

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in June 2016 that a lower judge had properly dismissed Salazar-Limon's lawsuit because of the threat perceived by Thompson, who testified that he had been pushed toward freeway traffic before a combative Salazar-Limon turned away.

Sotomayor noted that a different Court of Appeals had decided in 2014 that the absence of a weapon in police shooting cases is potential evidence to discredit police testimony.

In such cases, a jury should weigh the credibility of differing accounts, she wrote.

Responding to Sotomayor's dissent, Justice Samuel Alito insisted that the high court had acted uniformly over the years in applying the law and had always maintained a neutral posture.

Salazar-Limon suffered a spinal cord injury, resulting in paralysis of his lower body. After a period of rehabilitation, he pleaded no contest to charges of resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated.