Family of Man Killed by Police Demand Decision

The family of a 26-year-old Downey man whose fatal shooting by police last year was captured on videotape complained Wednesday that the Los Angeles district attorney’s office still has not told them whether anyone would be prosecuted in his death.

Prosecutors have been investigating the death of Gonzalo Martinez since February 2002, when he was killed with automatic-weapons fire at the end of a chase involving Downey police. Martinez was unarmed. A cameraman for Spanish-language television recorded his death, which was widely broadcast.

Police said Martinez made a “furtive movement” that is not visible on the videotape. They said that a second tape, which they have refused to release, shows the shooting was justified.

The Martinez family and about a dozen supporters marched outside the district attorney’s office Wednesday, demanding a resolution.

Sandi Gibbons, an office spokeswoman, told the family that a decision will be made “in the next couple of weeks.” She attributed the delay to the reassignment of the prosecutor who had initially handled the probe.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Gonzalo Martinez’s mother, Norma, said.