Officer’s criminal record a factor in dismissed charges against L.A. anti-ICE protesters
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- Prosecutors dropped assault charges against two protesters after defense attorneys said an officer named as the victim in both cases failed to disclose prior criminal convictions.
- The federal officer alleged in one case that he was punched in the face by a demonstrator, a claim contradicted by video of the incident.
- Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have aggressively pursued charges against anti-ICE protesters but had many of the cases fall apart in court.
A federal agent failed to disclose three criminal convictions to his bosses at the Department of Justice and misrepresented the nature of an alleged assault, according to court filings in two recent Los Angeles cases against protesters that ended with all charges dropped.
The dismissals continue a nearly unprecedented streak of legal defeats for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles in cases that involve people accused of assaulting law enforcement during last year’s demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Ashleigh Brown and Jonathon Redondo-Rosales — two protesters involved in chaotic demonstrations outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. — were accused of assaulting a Federal Protective Service officer in August.
The federal public defender’s office in L.A. was 5 and 0 against prosecutors in trials related to immigration raids and protests. Trial No. 6 was last month.
The officer, whose agency is responsible for securing federal facilities, alleged Redondo-Rosales punched him in the face, according to a defense motion. Brown then hit him while interfering with attempts to arrest Redondo-Rosales, federal prosecutors alleged.
Within two months, charges against Brown were dropped. In November, prosecutors announced they did not plan to call the officer, who was identified in court records at the time only as “Z.C.,” to testify in the assault case against Redondo-Rosales, according to a motion filed by his attorney, Kacey McBroom.
She said major issues with the officer’s credibility crippled both cases.
Brown’s case was dropped in late October, according to a judge’s ruling in a related case, shortly after her federal public defenders informed the prosecution that “Z.C.” had a prior harassment conviction in Pennsylvania.
Brown’s attorneys declined to comment. She also has been accused in a separate case of following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to their La Mirada home and “doxing” them by livestreaming their location. She pleaded not guilty.
The doxing charge recently was dropped by prosecutors after it was determined Brown had not revealed the agent’s home address, an essential element of the alleged crime, according to motions filed in that case. She still faces stalking and conspiracy charges and is expected to go to trial this year.
In a motion in Brown’s case, attorneys identified the officer as Zachary Conte. He has been with the Federal Protective Service since at least 2022 and previously was assigned to Susquehanna, Pa., according to an article published on a U.S. military website.
An agency spokesperson said in a statement to The Times that an internal review by its Office of Professional Responsibility was underway.
“FPS law enforcement officers are held to the highest level of professional standards,” the statement said. “FPS OPR is conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, and the individual in question has been placed on administrative duty and his law enforcement authorities including his service weapon and badge removed pending further investigation.”
Pennsylvania court records show Conte, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of harassment in Chester County in June 2021. Attempts by The Times to reach Conte at numbers listed for him in public records were unsuccessful, and court records do not indicate whether he retained an attorney in past cases.
When McBroom filed a motion seeking additional evidence about Conte’s criminal history, the U.S. attorney’s office claimed it had no Brady material to disclose, a reference to the landmark Supreme Court ruling that requires prosecutors to turn over evidence about an officer’s history and past allegations of misconduct to defendants.
McBroom then found out “Z.C.” had two convictions for disorderly conduct and driving under the influence in Florida, which also had not been disclosed, according to the attorney’s Brady motion.
In the Redondo-Rosales case, McBroom said she again zeroed in on the officer’s credibility when pointing to a use-of-force report he submitted that claimed the defendant “struck me in the face with a closed left fist.”
Video first published by The Times last December shows the encounter began after Redondo-Rosales was bumped by a slow-moving government vehicle on Alameda Street. Redondo-Rosales backpedaled as officers closed in to grab him and swung a hat in the direction of an officer’s face, according to the video.
The video does not show Redondo-Rosales throwing a punch. McBroom said no evidence was presented that the officer sustained an injury.
Officers then shove Redondo-Rosales to the ground, where he smacks his head on the asphalt. Later, McBroom said, her client was pepper sprayed in the face and required treatment from paramedics.
With trial approaching, McBroom made clear in court that she planned to force the federal officers to testify.
“They thought their problems were solved by not calling this victim,” she said. “I said in court ... this officer and others have a problem: They can either commit perjury and testify consistent with statements that are demonstrably false, or they can revise their statements to comport with the videos.”
Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against Redondo-Rosales just 11 days before a scheduled trial. Expressing frustration with their handling of the matter, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela ruled the case had to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile charges in the future.
In her ruling, Valenzuela excoriated federal prosecutors for advancing “bad faith” arguments as to why the case should be dismissed without prejudice, including an allegation that Redondo-Rosales was somehow using the federal case to avoid addressing an alleged state parole violation he faces out of San Diego County.
“Federal detention may delay state proceedings, but it does not prevent them,” she wrote. “As any criminal practitioner knows, federal detention is not a good hiding place from state charges.”
Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, said prosecutors will appeal Valenzuela’s ruling. He declined to answer questions about the officer’s credibility or impact on the cases.
The legal defeats mark the latest rebukes of federal prosecutors’ aggressive attempts to charge protesters in L.A. under First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli. While Essayli has boasted of charging more than 100 defendants with assaulting federal officers or impeding immigration agents, those cases are crumbling in court.
Grand juries repeatedly have refused to indict the defendants. A Times review last year found nearly a third of the 71 assault cases prosecutors filed last year ended in an acquittal or dismissal.
The Department of Justice has lost five cases in Los Angeles against defendants accused of assaulting immigration agents, leading former government officials to warn that the Trump administration faces a growing credibility crisis with the public.
Homeland Security officials’ descriptions of clashes between officers and demonstrators have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks after video footage contradicted comments made by Trump administration officials about the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
McBroom said she believes officers are making claims of assault to cover up the use of excessive force against protesters and accused prosecutors of using charges to suppress demonstrations. Redondo-Rosales spent six months in federal lockup, McBroom said.
“It’s despicable to imprison a person for exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” McBroom said. “Particularly when, early on, they were aware that the officer’s version of events were completely false.”
More to Read
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Filmmaker Ondi Timoner was overseas shooting a documentary when the Eaton Fire destroyed her home of 14 years, and wiped her entire neighborhood away.
Wild theories, enduring myths and a long-overlooked suspect.
In this specially released bonus episode, Madison McGhee and Jami Rice share some extremely opinionated opinions about everything from the Menendez Brothers to Jax Taylor.
