Judge denies UIW request to dismiss Redus suit School argued it, police officer should have immunity

Valerie and Mickey Redus’ son Robert Cameron Redus was shot to death by a UIW police officer in 2013. Valerie and Mickey Redus’ son Robert Cameron Redus was shot to death by a UIW police officer in 2013. Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Judge denies UIW request to dismiss Redus suit 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A state district judge has denied a request from University of the Incarnate Word to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the family of Robert Cameron Redus, a student fatally shot by a campus police officer in 2013.

In a court hearing last week, UIW argued that the private school’s Police Department was in fact a governmental unit and that the university was thus protected from the wrongful death suit under the Texas Tort Claims Act. UIW attorneys contended the law extended immunity as well to Christopher Carter, the former UIW police corporal also named in the suit.

Carter shot and killed Redus, 23, after a struggle in the parking lot of Redus’ off-campus apartment complex on Dec. 6, 2013. Carter resigned from the force about a year later.

Attorneys for the Redus family argued the lawsuit was filed against UIW, not its police force. They said Carter, despite being a state-licensed peace officer, was employed by a private university that did not operate in the state’s public higher education system, meaning neither the school nor Carter had governmental immunity.

The ruling Monday by Judge Cathleen Stryker only said UIW’s request was denied without detailing why.

In a statement, UIW Chancellor Denise Doyle said the school planned to appeal the decision, describing the question about police departments of private universities as “an important legal issue.” She also denied that the university was trying to delay the suit from moving forward, which the Redus family attorneys have claimed.

“There is no advantage whatsoever for the University to stall this lawsuit,” Doyle said in the statement. “Rather we are taking very seriously the implications and consequences of this suit for the University.”

Redus family attorney Brent Perry said UIW’s efforts to drag out the proceedings have prevented the facts of the case from being made public.

“These continual delays by UIW have not only halted justice being done in this case for Cameron, but it’s also slowed the process of the truth being shared with the public,” Perry said in a statement Tuesday.

The district attorney’s office, meanwhile, has still not presented the case to a grand jury to determine whether Carter should face any criminal charges.

djoseph@express-news.net