Deputy Cleared in Carwash Slaying

The San Diego County district attorney’s office has determined that a sheriff’s deputy did not commit a criminal act when he fatally shot an unarmed illegal alien at a Fallbrook carwash in June.

Deputy Edwin Puett, 32, bears “no criminal liability” for the shooting death of Juan Antonio Martinez, Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller said in a four-page letter to the Sheriff’s Department.

Martinez, 18, was shot June 12 when he ran toward Puett from a shadowy storeroom at the back of the carwash, according to department investigators.

Martinez and three friends had been drinking beer at the back of the carwash for several hours before Puett arrived at the scene, one of the youths, who lived at the carwash, told authorities.

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. John Tenwolde said Tuesday that a sheriff’s review board will determine if Puett complied with the department’s policies and procedures during the incident, but he did not know when the board would be convened.

Puett, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, has been returned to regular patrol duty.

Miller termed the shooting “regrettable” but said his office had determined, after a thorough review of interviews conducted by homicide detectives and studying photographs of the scene, that Puett had reason to believe Martinez posed a threat.

“The law permits a person to act upon appearance, whether the danger perceived turns out to have been real or merely apparent,” Miller said.

Despite repeated requests, The Times was unable to obtain a copy of Miller’s letter to the Sheriff’s Department. Steve Casey, a spokesman for the district attorney, said it is district attorney’s policy that such correspondence is the property of the recipient.

Terry Francke, an attorney with the California Newspaper Publishers Assn., said the district attorney’s policy is contrary to the law. The California Public Records Act permits “no such thing as a courtesy exemption” for letters between two public officials, he said.

Sheriff’s Department officials later allowed a Times reporter to see the letter, but not to make a copy.

The shooting occurred when Puett arrived at the carwash after a nearby resident said he saw several men banging on a soft-drink vending machine and peering through the window of the small building that serves as the carwash office.

Puett told homicide investigators that he pulled up to the carwash and saw a man reaching through the bars on the open office window. Puett said the man was reaching into a cash register, in what appeared to be a burglary in progress.

The man ran when he saw the deputy, dashing along a dark, open stretch of pavement between the office and the building that houses car-washing equipment, authorities said. Puett chased the man, but lost sight of him in the darkness.

At the back of the box-like building, Puett came upon and held a second man, Manuel Lopez, 17, an undocumented alien from Guatemala who was employed at the carwash.

Lopez told investigators that he and three friends, including Martinez, had been drinking beer at the back of the carwash before Puett arrived. Lopez, who sleeps on a bare mattress atop a makeshift plywood cot inside the storage room, also said the youths would periodically use a telephone in the office. He speculated that one of them was doing that when Puett arrived.

While Puett corraled Lopez, Martinez slipped into the storage room. Hearing a noise in the room, Puett tied the door shut with a piece of rope.

The deputy put Lopez in his squad car and then, with the help of Sgt. Clyde Kodadek, who responded to Puett’s call for backup, searched the carwash for other suspects. The officers then positioned themselves at the door to the room where Martinez was hiding.

A flashlight on the ground pointed toward the door provided the only direct light, investigators said. Puett untied the rope and, handgun drawn, pulled the door open.

Puett told investigators that he had taken several steps away from the doorway when Martinez, both hands in front at about waist level and rising upward, charged directly at him. Puett also told detectives of seeing a gleam--like reflected light--near the man’s hands.

Kodadek, off to one side, recalled seeing only “a human form” bolt from the door toward Puett, but little else.

Puett fired one shot, which passed through Martinez’s left arm and into his chest, shattering a rib and sending bone fragments into Martinez’s lungs and other vital organs.

The deputies called an ambulance and applied first aid, but Martinez died about an hour later at Fallbrook Hospital.

In their review, the district attorney’s officials could find no reason for the reflected light Puett claimed to see when Martinez charged, calling the description “inexplicable but not impossible.” Homicide detectives said Martinez was not wearing any rings or other shiny jewelry.

They also said it is “plausible” that Martinez tripped as he scampered out of the storage room, causing his hands to fly up. In addition, Martinez may have twisted to the right as he fell, according to Miller’s letter.

That possible twisting action could account for Martinez suffering the bullet wound in his left arm even though Puett was standing to the youth’s right when the shooting is said to have occurred, Miller said in the letter.