By Jenny Suo
The family of a teenager who was accidentally shot dead during a police pursuit is planning to sue police for $1 million.
Halatau Naitoko, 17, was caught in crossfire as police tried to stop a gunman in 2009.
Now a landmark legal battle could have far reaching consequences.
Mr Naitoko, a courier driver and young father, was killed by police, accidentally shot as they tried to stop a gunman on an Auckland motorway.
Now his family is planning to sue, to send a message that this cannot happen again.
The family’s lawyer Colin Pidgeon says the family wanted to do something.
“Their son is dead and this isn’t going to bring him back, but the extent of the errors that were made that led up to his death were so great that they felt they should do something.”
Mr Naitoko's family is suing under the Bill of Rights Act in a section called the "right not to be deprived of life".
It's an unprecedented move that Auckland University law lecturer Bill Hodge says will be an uphill battle.
“It’s not clear that they were acting unreasonably or using deadly force to bring down a very dangerous person. Were they acting unreasonably? They made a terrible mistake, its a tragedy, but should the tax payer pay? That's the question.”
While some experts say the case won't succeed, Mr Pidgeon disagrees.
“There’s been a number of awards for breaches of the Bill of Rights Act for failure to carry proper searches or wrongful arrests, and some of those have gone into the six figures.”
If it's successful, it will set a legal precedent, Mr Hodge says.
“It would mean a different approach for people in Pike River, like people who died in the Christchurch earthquake, like people who died at the Mt Wellington RSA. All those things have been blanketed and shut down by ACC, but those cases could come forward under this section if this case is successful.”
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