California Criminal Defense Blog

Debate over this issue is likely to intensify over the next few weeks, especially as it relates to minority groups in Los Angeles who often feel unfairly targeted by law enforcement.

Six months after the death of immigrant laborer Manuel Jaminez in the Westlake District at the hands of an LAPD officer, the Los Angeles Police Commission sided with the officer. The civilian watchdog group, which reviews officer-involved shootings, found that the officer’s use of lethal force was reasonable and within departmental policy.

Today’s Police Commission decision is not likely to put an end to litigation in this case or quell debate over purported police misconduct generally. The United States Department of Justice may investigate the incident and his family may file a Section 1983 lawsuit for federal civil rights violations.

Cops have a right of self-defense like other people, and a duty to protect the public, but under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment officer force must be “reasonable under the circumstances.”

Courts evaluate the reasonableness of force in a given incident by looking at the severity of the suspect’s crime, the threat posed by the suspect to the officer and the public, and efforts by the suspect to resist arrest or flee.

Last night, Romany Malco…an actor from ABC’s “No Ordinary Family”…was pulled over by the Hawthorne Police Department. At the time of the stop, Malco didn’t know why he was being detained…or why the officer approached him with her gun already drawn. Thinking that he was about to be the victim of police misconduct, Malco began taping the incident on his phone.

It turns out that Malco…an African-American man…had just pulled out of a parking lot where it was reported that three black males who were suspected of casing a T-Mobile store had just fled from when a security guard approached them.

Malco was ultimately released without being cited.

The Hawthorne Police Department believes that the investigating officer acted appropriately. Malco claims he will only sue for police misconduct if he feels he was treated unfairly.

Under these types of circumstances, it is unlikely that this officer would be guilty of police misconduct. Police misconduct involves intentionally using excessive force, lying or fabricating evidence, or improperly using a weapon. The facts as we know them in this case don’t seem to rise to that level.

NYPD Officer Alfonso Mendez was suspended without pay when he allegedly stood by and did nothing but harass a mother who was trying to get her dying 11-year-old daughter to the hospital.

Briana Ojeda suffered a major asthma attack at a park less than a mile away from a hospital. While her mother was frantically trying to drive her daughter to the E.R., she accidentally turned the wrong way down a one-way street and hit another car. Mendez approached and as Briana’s mother pled for help, the officer denied knowing CPR (a life-saving technique that all departmental officers are trained in). Instead of helping, he issued the mother a ticket for the accident. By the time the mother got Briana to the emergency room, it was too late…she was dead.

The officer faces departmental action for failing to act and a possible civil lawsuit from the family. All states have some type of penalties for officers accused of misconduct. This is why is it critical to contact a local, skilled criminal defense attorney if you are a police officer accused of misconduct.

Police officers need criminal defense lawyers as well. And claims against police officers are on the rise…especially in large metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland. Officers face departmental action, criminal and civil penalties for alleged misconduct. If accused, don’t go at it alone. Be sure to contact an experienced attorney.

Lack of transparency regarding law enforcement use of force continues in Southern California despite years of struggles waged in the courts and media.

Recent articles and reports addressed this problem as it relates to the Los Angeles Police Commission and the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department.

According to an LA Times article, the Police Commission has not revealed outcomes of over 200 violent police encounters and shootings, including in custody deaths, during the last five years. The Commission cited staffing shortfalls in the Office of Inspector General.

Meanwhile, the ACLU released a report of conditions at Men’s Central Jail – a report that was hamstrung by lack of transparency from the Sherriff’s Department when it came to monitoring use of force complaints.

Police officers are entrusted with tremendous power in our society. It is critical that citizens have access to the information they need to monitor the exercise of that power, especially in high-stakes areas such as use of force.

You can read more about these issues at Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Violations and Prison and Jail Abuse.