Trial of Wrongful-Death Suit Against Officer Begins : Litigation: Attorney says Orange policeman overreacted in dealing with unarmed ex-guard.

A police officer who killed an unarmed Orange man while responding to a domestic dispute failed to follow department policy and lied to cover up his use of excessive force, an attorney charged as the trial in a $5-million wrongful death lawsuit opened Wednesday.

Ramon Ibarra, 27, a former security guard who lived in Orange with his common-law wife and their five children, did not pose a serious threat to police on July 9, 1990, but was shot because Orange Police Officer Jeffrey Mundt overreacted, Greg Owen, attorney for the Ibarra family, said.

“You don’t resort to violence or deadly force. You can call in support and back off,” Owen told jurors. Owen said experts will testify during the trial that Mundt failed to follow police procedure for dealing with domestic disputes.

Owen’s allegations came on the first day of testimony in the suit filed by Ibarra’s relatives against the City of Orange and its Police Department.

The Orange County district attorney’s office ruled that the shooting was justified, and Mundt remains on the force as a patrol officer, said attorney Bruce D. Praet, who is representing both Mundt and the city during the trial.

Praet told the Santa Ana Superior Court jury that Mundt used reasonable force against Ibarra, who verbally challenged police when they arrived at his front door and threw two pieces of a broken fan at Mundt, cutting the officer’s hand and bruising his face.

Praet said Mundt fired his weapon because he feared that Ibarra was reaching for a gun, when in fact Ibarra was reaching for a piece of the metal fan. Praet said the bullet wounds indicate that Ibarra was reaching over for an object when struck.

But Owen told jurors that the path of a bullet found in the wall of the apartment does not match up with Mundt’s description of events. Owen said key evidence will include contradicting statements by Mundt to cover up his actions.

“The evidence will show Officer Mundt has lied, his story is unbelievable and is not supported by the evidence,” Owen said.

Specifically, Owen contended that Mundt lied to authorities about the sequence of events that led up to the shooting, including details about precisely when he fired his gun in response to Ibarra’s actions.

Orange Police Officer Jose Uceda, the first witness to testify during the trial, said Ibarra was shot seconds after he threw the second piece of the fan at Mundt, hitting him with the metal fragment. Uceda responded to the domestic dispute along with Mundt and Officer Shawn Travis.

Praet asked jurors to consider the case from Mundt’s state of mind. Praet said Mundt feared that Ibarra possessed a weapon from his days as a security guard. Mundt had also been threatened by Ibarra one week earlier, when he responded to a domestic dispute at the Ibarra home.

In that incident, on July 2, 1990, Ibarra began kicking and punching officers and had to be forcibly restrained during his arrest. Ibarra also told Mundt that he would kill the officer the next time he saw him, Praet said.

“The real issue is whether (Mundt) reasonably believed he was in danger. . . . He had to make a split-second, life-or-death decision,” Praet said. “His use of force under the circumstances was entirely reasonable.”

The incident that led to Ibarra’s death began when Ibarra arrived home and went into a drunken rage, threatening his common-law wife, Connie Owen, no relation to the attorney, officials said. Owen called 911 and met police outside to tell them that she feared for her safety, officials said.