Police in Texas use governmental immunity to avoid repaying taxpayers for damaging their property. A new legal playbook may have been found in a landmark court win.

Vicki Baker, 78, has beaten cancer. Simply put, the retiree knows what it's like to plant your feet, stand tall and fight.

So, it's no surprise her name is connected to a landmark federal court win that ordered the City of McKinney to pay her nearly $60,000 for destroying most of her home while pursuing a wanted man.

Throughout the country, state and federal judges almost always side with the police and other agencies when they cite sovereign and governmental immunity claims for damages to property.

However, Baker and her attorneys used a novel legal approach to sidestep governmental immunity claims and the legal argument resonated with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Fifth Circuit found the City of McKinney, a governmental entity, must pay an innocent property owner whose property was damaged or destroyed by police.

The city is challenging the decision and is not commenting until the legal battle is over.

FULL STORY: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/loc...