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Family of Jaahnavi Kandula, killed by speeding Seattle officer, files lawsuit
(www.seattletimes.com)
The family of a 23-year-old graduate student from India who was struck and killed by a speeding police officer in a South Lake Union crosswalk in 2023 has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the city and police Officer Kevin Dave, who was cited for negligent driving but not criminally charged.
The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court alleges Jaahnavi Kandula “experienced terror, severe emotional distress, and severe pain and suffering before dying” from injuries suffered when she was struck by Dave’s speeding Seattle police SUV at an unregulated crosswalk adjacent to construction along Dexter Avenue North.
An investigation showed Dave, heading to an emergency call, was driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone when he struck Kandula in a crosswalk on Dexter at Thomas Street the evening of Jan. 23, 2023. Dave’s dashboard camera showed Kandula apparently trying to beat the speeding car across the intersection. The impact knocked her nearly 137 feet. Dave performed CPR on the woman until other officers and medics arrived. Kandula died that evening at Harborview Medical Center.
Outrage over her death simmered for months in Seattle’s South Asian communities before exploding internationally after publication last summer of a recording that depicted a city police union official laughing and downplaying her death, saying she had “limited value” and that the city should “just write a check.”
The officer who made those comments, Daniel Auderer, was vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. He had left his body camera on while talking to SPOG President Mike Solan. After an internal investigation, interim police Chief Sue Rahr fired Auderer, saying his “vile” comments shamed the department and damaged law enforcement’s reputation everywhere.
In his comments, Auderer said Kandula was young and “had limited value,” and that the city should just write a check “for $11,000.”
In a tort claim filed last March with the City Attorney’s Office that preceded Friday’s lawsuit, the family said it was asking for damages of $110 million plus $11,000.
Ironically, Auderer had insisted during the internal investigation into his comments that the remarks were intended to mock the lawyers who have to try to put a dollar value on human life.
“I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how I have watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy,” Auderer said in a prepared statement when his comments were first publicized.
Auderer had been called to the scene as a drug-recognition expert, and he determined Dave was not impaired. The conversation with Solan was recorded afterward, when Auderer apparently didn’t notice his body camera was still on.
Auderer has filed a $20 million claim for damages against the city. In the claim, he said he was retaliated against for his union leadership and that he was wrongfully terminated. As a result, he wrote, he’s suffered harm to his reputation and mental health.
The lawsuit alleges that the city of Seattle was negligent in hiring Dave, the officer who struck Kandula, and ignored evidence that he had been terminated by the Tucson Police Department for poor performance and misconduct, including an incident when he fled from police and was suspected of being under the influence of intoxicants.
The lawsuit also claims that Dave’s driver’s license was expired at the time he struck Kandula.
Dave was cited for negligent driving and subject to a fine of up to $5,000. He has contested the citation, according to the Seattle City Attorney’s Office.
Dave was responding to a call of a man who said he had overdosed. According to an investigation, Dave was driving with his emergency lights on, however he was only “chirping” his siren at controlled intersections. He was accelerating when Kandula stepped into the intersection, looked up and saw the oncoming SUV, and apparently misjudged its speed and tried to scurry across the street, according to an investigation conducted by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which declined to file criminal charges against the officer.