Civil rights suit to be filed in fatal officer-related Westlake shooting

Attorneys representing the family of the Guatemalan day laborer killed by police in September say they will file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court Monday arguing that the Los Angeles Police Department’s official version of events is contradicted by several witnesses.

“We wouldn’t have taken this case unless we had a good-faith belief that there were deficient tactics on the part of the officers,” said Luis Carrillo, a South Pasadena attorney representing the widow and three children of Manuel Jaminez Xum, an immigrant from a rural Maya community five hours west of Guatemala City. “Witnesses that I’ve spoken to have contradicted the official version.”

Carrillo said he will be accompanied at the Monday morning filing by Clemente Samines, a Guatemala congressman and vice president of the Indigenous Parliament of America who represents the heavily indigenous district where Jaminez Xum’s widow and children live.

Police have said an intoxicated Jaminez Xum, 37, was shot by a patrol officer after refusing commands in English and Spanish to drop a bloody knife he allegedly had been brandishing on a crowded corner in Westlake. One witness later contradicted that account in media appearances, saying Jaminez Xum was not holding a knife when Officer Frank Hernandez fired the two shots to the head that killed him.

The shooting touched off protests in Westlake in the days after the shooting, with about 300 demonstrators clashing with police in riot gear on one occasion. Several protesters and police officers were hurt by flying bottles and rocks in the melee, and 22 people were arrested.

Carrillo said he has found other witnesses who contradict the official police account, which remains under review. The suit against the city of Los Angeles and several LAPD officials will seek damages for wrongful death. It will allege that Jaminez Xum was unarmed when shot, had posed no threat and may not have understood police commands because his native language was Quiche, an indigenous Mayan language, according to a draft of the document provided to The Times.

Carrillo became involved in the case after meeting relatives of Jaminez Xum and reading an article in The Times, which noted Samines was helping the Guatemalan’s widow seek justice in the United States. Carrillo contacted the congressman and suggested the family file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court.

Policarpo Chaj, executive director of the indigenous community group Maya Vision, said he thought the lawsuit was the proper way to pursue justice in the case.

“We’re not in agreement with those who look for justice in the streets,” said Chaj, whose national group will provide translation services for Samines during his visit. “Nobody has taken the initiative to give information to the family, to tell them who is responsible for this.”

Carrillo represented about 40 victims of the 2007 MacArthur Park clash between police and participants in an immigration march. He said his clients had received about $2 million of the more than $30 million the city paid to settle lawsuits alleging LAPD misconduct.

The LAPD did not respond to requests for comment.

jason.felch@latimes.com