Officers Cleared in Slaying of Suspect

A police shooting last year that killed an unarmed Downey man and was caught on two videotapes was justifiable because officers had good reason to believe the suspect was reaching for a weapon, according to a Los Angeles County prosecutors’ report released Wednesday.

“The weight of the evidence supports a self-defense argument” by the officers of the Downey Police Department, Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Doyle said after releasing the 53-page document.

“It is the determination of this office,” the report says, “that there is insufficient evidence to prove criminal misconduct or criminal negligence on the part of the officers.”

Gonzalo Martinez, 26, was shot five times on Feb. 15, 2002, shortly after 2. a.m. during a brief standoff in a Downey neighborhood after a high-speed chase. The chase began when police tried to pull him over on suspicion of drunk driving.

The shooting sparked street protests at Downey City Hall and the district attorney’s office.

The report said that Cpl. Brian Baker fired an MP-5 submachine gun, which shoots in bursts of three. It said that Officer William Kautz shot Martinez once with a 9-millimeter pistol and that Officer Ronald Gee shot him twice with a shotgun that fires nonlethal beanbags. Martinez’s blood alcohol level was reportedly three times the legal limit.

Officers said that Martinez refused to obey orders to raise his hands and that he reached toward his waistband as if he were going to pull a gun. The report says that a police video “largely corroborates” their version. A second video, shot by a civilian cameraman, does not show whether Martinez made such a motion, because its view was partly blocked, the report says. That video shows Martinez only from his shoulders up.

The release of the report did not quell the criticism or stifle the questions, partly because police refused to release the videotape Wednesday.

“If it was really supportive of their position, I can’t imagine how fast they would get that tape to you,” said Steve Lerman, a Beverly Hills lawyer representing the family in a wrongful death suit against the city of Downey. Police say that pending litigation is the reason they will not release the tape.

The report also reveals that one civilian witness, Carol Lynn Johnston, who told investigators that she had a clear view of Martinez, said that the suspect had “made no provocative act of any kind” and that she felt the “shooting was not justified.”

Martinez’s mother, Norma Martinez, said the report’s findings are wrong. “By them deciding not to prosecute, it is like killing my son all over again.”

Downey Police Chief John C. Finch praised the report. “I am impressed with the thoroughness of the district attorney’s investigation,” he said in a news release. “I believe that the independent review and findings ... stand on their own.”

The report also rejects criticisms that police delayed medical care for Martinez. It says paramedics were kept away for several minutes so that police could ensure that no other suspects were in the car.

“We conclude that Downey police officers were not criminally negligent in their post-shooting treatment of Gonzalo Martinez,” the report says.

Investigators interviewed four other civilian witnesses who said that they either hadn’t seen the shooting or that their view of Martinez’s hands had been blocked. Another witness said she did not see him raise his hands, a statement that supports police statements that he had disobeyed their commands. Several police witnesses said they clearly saw Martinez reach toward his waistband.

But at least one officer said the motion did not look like a suspect going for a gun, the report says. Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff John O’Hara, riding in a helicopter over the scene, said he has had suspects draw weapons on him. Although he said Martinez’s “manner would have caused alarm,” the suspect was not “reaching ... like a gunfighter in a draw.”

“He appeared to slowly and methodically reach toward the rear of his body as if he was reaching for his wallet,” O’Hara said.

The report says the Downey officers fired at Martinez because they feared for their lives and the lives of their colleagues.

The events leading up to the shooting began in downtown Downey when Martinez fled officers who tried to pull him over. The report says he ran red lights and stop signs, raced at speeds as high as 90 mph on the Santa Ana Freeway and plowed into a guardrail when he lost control. It says he tried to run over police officers who approached him on foot at the crash scene.

At one point, he drove directly at Baker, who fired his .45-caliber handgun repeatedly into the windshield of Martinez’s car, according to the report. Another officer also fired, and still another rammed his cruiser into the fleeing vehicle. The chase continued along Florence Avenue before Martinez turned into a neighborhood at Newville Avenue and Ardine Street, where police finally stopped the car by ramming it twice more.

Martinez sat in the car for several minutes, smoking cigarettes and ignoring repeated commands by officers to raise his hands and get out of the car, the report says. At 2:21 a.m., he got out, lighted another cigarette and stood in the open doorway.

“After placing the cigarette between his lips, Martinez allowed his right arm to drop to his side,” the report says.

Baker, the officer armed with the submachine gun, said Martinez, “in a slow and deliberate motion, reached inside his jacket and straight toward his rear waistband.” He said Martinez ignored commands to remove his hand from the jacket.

“Corporal Baker became fearful for his life and that of his fellow officers,” the report says. “He pointed the MP-5 straight for Martinez’s upper abdomen and fired one three-round burst.” When Martinez didn’t fall, Baker fired several more rounds.

Officers Gee and Kautz also opened fire. Martinez slid to the street. He was dead on arrival at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood.