State, DEA agent to argue over immunity defense in fatal cyclist collision
Federal judges on Tuesday will hear legal arguments over whether the prosecution of a DEA agent who killed a cyclist in Salem last year should stay in federal court, where the agent could seek immunity from prosecution.
The oral argument in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes five months after a federal judge agreed to move the criminal case involving Samuel T. Landis to federal court because the DEA agent was part of a team surveilling a major drug dealer at the time of the collision. The move allowed Landis, 38, to then argue he is immune from prosecution because he broke traffic laws in his work for the U.S. government.
The Oregon Department of Justice in January appealed that decision, arguing that Landis should be tried in Marion County Circuit Court, where he was originally charged with criminally negligent homicide. The agent pushed back, arguing that his case belongs in federal court.
Attorneys for the Justice Department and Landis will present their arguments on Tuesday, May 7, at 9 a.m. at the William K. Nakamura Courthouse in Seattle.
WATCH LIVE: ORAL ARGUMENT
The proceeding will be streamed live and later posted on the court’s YouTube channel.
While the appeal is pending, prosecution of Landis is on hold.
He was charged in September 2023 in Marion County Circuit Court with criminally negligent homicide.
The basic facts are established by court records, including Landis’s admissions. The agent has admitted that he ran a stop sign and killed Salem cyclist Marganne Allen.
The key dispute is over whether Landis should be prosecuted at all for Allen’s death. The agent can only seek immunity in federal court because that legal defense doesn’t exist under Oregon law.
Landis’ attorneys say that he only needed to claim that he might get immunity at the federal level to justify the shift to federal court. Landis could then argue for the case to be dismissed entirely by claiming immunity. Otherwise, prosecutors would then try the case in federal instead of state court.
A federal judge in December agreed with Landis, finding he was acting as a federal officer. The judge then transferred the case to Eugene U.S. District Court
The state Justice Department challenged that decision on behalf of District Attorney Paige Clarkson, arguing that Landis’ immunity defense was unjustified. State attorneys contend Landis did not need to break traffic laws because of his job and that his case should be sent back to Marion County for prosecution.
The agent’s attorneys argued in their response that the state attorneys haven’t proven U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane erred in removing the case from state court.
They have also said that Landis thought he was doing the right thing in disobeying a stop sign at the Salem intersection.
The day of the crash, Landis was part of a team of federal agents investigating a drug cartel smuggling fentanyl out of Mexico to sell in the Salem area.
Landis, four other federal agents and three Salem police officers tag-teamed a drug courier in separate, unmarked vehicles so that the driver wouldn’t notice the tail.
Police records established that five other agents were ahead of Landis and that he was a mile away from the courier at the time of the crash.
His attorneys argued in a court filing that “he needed to remain close to the group to ensure he could pick up surveillance as needed.”
The agent slowed down on Southeast Leslie Street as he approached the intersection with High street and “assessed the situation,” his appellate filing said. “Agent Landis looked forward into the intersection and to each side and, seeing nothing, continued forward to maintain his position.”
Even though the mission was not pressing enough to require lights and sirens, Landis’ fellow agents “believed that it was necessary and proper to violate traffic laws to perform their surveillance mission,” his attorneys said in an appellate filing.
He entered the intersection going about 19 miles per hour and didn’t stop before driving into the cyclist’s path. Allen died later that day at Salem Hospital.
RELATED COVERAGE:
DEA agent disputes state’s appeal, insists on seeking immunity in bike crash
State asserts DEA agent has no federal immunity for fatal Salem collision
Judge says DEA agent’s duties could justify dropping charge in fatal cyclist collision
DEA agent admits role in fatal cyclist collision, seeks federal immunity
DEA agent faces state felony charge in death of Salem cyclist
Video shows driver ran stop sign in fatal collision with Salem cyclist
Salem police gave evidence to DEA minutes after agent’s fatal collision with cyclist
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
