Trial Opens Against City of Orlando Over Crash Involving Police Vehicle

Eric Rosen, left, and Christopher Turner, deliver opening statements at trial over a crash involving a police vehicle that a woman says left her with neck and back injuries. Watch the trial. 

Orlando, FL— Jurors on Tuesday previewed evidence of a 2024 crash involving a police vehicle, which a woman says left her with serious back and neck injuries, as trial opened against the City of Orlando. Chen v. The Bancorp Bank, et al., 2024-CA-010877-O.

Xiu Li Chen was traveling through an intersection on North Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando when her car was struck by an unmarked police vehicle driven by Detective Steven Morris, who is not a named defendant at trial.

The crash occurred when Morris, who had the red light, entered the intersection westbound with lights and sirens on, as Chen, who had the green light, was crossing the intersection southbound. A central issue at trial is who is to blame for the crash, with traffic video of the incident promising to serve as a key piece of evidence.

As trial opened October 6, Chen’s attorney, Eric Rosen, of Rosen Injury Law, walked jurors through the events leading up to the crash. Rosen said Morris was stopped at a red light when he activated his lights and siren in order to meet his partner to serve a search warrant on a person of interest in a criminal case. Rosen said Morris pulled around vehicles, but did not stop to ensure that no traffic was crossing the intersection before he entered it. Rosen also noted that Morris’ vehicle was obscured by a tractor-trailer as he pulled past the big rig into the intersection.

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Rosen said Morris failed to comply with protocol because he did not stop before entering the intersection and did not clear each lane, ensuring they were all free of traffic, before continuing.

“[Police] must use the utmost care. With power comes responsibility, right?” Rosen said. “Because there’s a balance between catching bad guys and not hurting the public when you’re doing it.”

But the defense maintains Chen is to blame for the collision. During his opening Tuesday, Christopher Turner, of Dean Ringers Morgan & Lawton, told jurors that Morris was activating his air horn in addition to using his lights and siren as he navigated the intersection. Turner added that evidence would show that Chen, who was traveling 38 mph on a roadway with a speed limit of 35 mph, did not hit her brakes until a half-second before the crash.

By contrast, Turner said, Morris was going less than 10 mph as he navigated the intersection, and had looked under the big rig for approaching traffic before moving forward.

“This case really boils down to Ms. Chen’s failure to perceive the lights and sirens of … Detective Morris’ police vehicle as he was going through the intersection,” Turner said.

Closings in the case are expected as soon as Thursday.

Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.

Video of the trial will be uploaded for viewing at the end of each morning and afternoon session. Subscribers to CVN’s video archive can access those sessions as trial progresses.

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