SANTA ANA : Rights Trial Begins in Slaying by Officer

More than four years after an 18-year-old man was shot to death by a Westminster police officer, a federal jury was impaneled Tuesday to decide whether the officer used excessive force or only tried to protect himself.

Frank Martinez was shot once in the chest on July 15, 1988, by Officer Steve Phillips. That much both sides agree upon. But as a federal civil-rights trial began Tuesday in U.S. District Court, attorneys gave conflicting versions of events leading to the slaying.

Attorney Julian Bailey, who represents the Martinez family, told the four-man, four-woman jury that Phillips acted negligently in shooting an unarmed teen-ager who witnesses say was not threatening the officer.

On the night of the shooting, several dozen people were at the Martinez residence for a birthday party when police arrived to investigate a report of gang activity nearby.

The crowd became angry and turned on the officers. They struck one of the officers with a chair and hit Phillips over the head with a bottle, kicking him to the ground, said attorney Bruce D. Praet, who is representing the officer.

Phillips was lying on his back and fired a single shot at Martinez after the officer saw the teen-ager charging toward him with a bottle raised over his head, Praet said.

Praet told jurors the case was not just about Martinez’s death but about “police officers defending themselves from brutal attacks.”

The Orange County Grand Jury and the district attorney’s office concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to indict Phillips.

In an earlier civil-rights trial, jurors found in favor of the police and ordered the family to pay attorneys’ costs, but that verdict was later set aside after the Martinez family said racial prejudice tainted that decision.

Bailey told jurors that the facts of the shooting do not match Phillips’ recollection of events on the night of the slaying. Bailey said gunshot residue on Martinez’s palms indicates that he was unarmed and had his empty hands in front of him when shot.

But Praet told jurors they cannot conclude from the gunshot residue that Martinez was unarmed. The residue could have rubbed off on Martinez’s hands if he clutched his bullet wound, he said.