A federal judge in San Diego has dismissed a wrongful-death case against a local Border Patrol agent, ruling that as a federal agent he is immune from prosecution because he was acting within the scope of his authority when he was involved in a fatal accident with a motorcyclist last year.

County prosecutors have charged Trooper Dustin Sato-Smith in state court with felony manslaughter without gross negligence in the hit-and-run death of Jacumba Hot Springs resident Ellis James Woodall near Potrero. But Sato-Smith successfully petitioned to move her case to federal courtwhere he claimed absolute immunity from criminal proceedings in state courts.

Sato-Smith argued that he was doing his job as a federal agent at the time of the February 2023 crash and was therefore protected by the US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, a principle that states that federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws .

U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with Sato-Smith, ruling that the officer was performing his necessary duties and responding to an emergency. In a written ruling issued Monday, Simmons granted Sato-Smith’s motion to dismiss and acquitted him of the manslaughter charge.

“Defendant contends that his turn resulting in the collision in this case was necessary and proper in the reasonable performance of his duties and was related to a requirement to reach the scene of the call for duty,” Simmons wrote. “The court agrees.”

A spokesman for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office said the office “accepts the court’s decision.”

The fatal crash occurred around 8:00 p.m. on February 19, 2023, on Campo Road near the US-Mexico border. Sato-Smith was driving a Border Patrol transport van on the rural, two-lane highway when he heard a radio call about possible undocumented immigrants preparing to cross the border.

Sato-Smith decided to answer the call, which required turning the van around and driving in the opposite direction. According to his attorney, the officer waited to make a U-turn until he was in an area he thought would be safe. But as Sato-Smith began the turn, Woodall approached from behind on his Kawasaki and began a legal overtaking maneuver in the opposite lane.

Woodall, 37, crashed into the driver’s side of the Border Patrol van as it swerved into his path, becoming pinned under the right rear tire. He died on the spot. The involvement of a Border Patrol agent and other details of the crash were first reported by the Union-Tribune in July.

A California Highway Patrol investigation later determined that Sato-Smith, who had been airlifted to a hospital for his injuries, had committed a felony by “making a U-turn … directly into the path” of the motorcycle. The CHP concluded that the officer was at fault for the fatal collision and should be charged. On Valentine’s Day of this year, nearly a year after the fatal collision, the County Prosecutor’s Office charged Sato-Smith with the crime of manslaughter.

It is rare for federal government employees to be charged with violating state laws because the Supremacy Clause largely protects them from prosecution in state courts. Congress also enacted regulations that give the federal government and its employees the legal right to move any criminal or civil case brought against them in state court to federal court. That’s what Sato-Smith did.

“The traffic collision was an unfortunate situation with a tragic outcome,” defense attorney Rick Pinckard told the Union-Tribune. “However, the legal precedent upon which the court relies is necessary to maintain the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states as it relates to federal officers performing their duties within the jurisdictional boundaries of a state.”

The District Attorney’s Office argued that Sato-Smith should not be able to move the case to federal court because she was not responding to an emergency when the accident occurred. County prosecutors argued that if he had, Sato-Smith would have activated his emergency lights and not slowed down before making the U-turn.

The judge rejected those arguments, reasoning that the officer had to slow down to make a safe turn and did not turn on his lights so as not to alert potential migrant traffickers that he was approaching.