Posted on 02/10/2014 6:34:07 AM PST by Uncle Chip
The Santa Rosa Police Department has completed its investigation of the Oct. 22 shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus....
Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch acknowledged the receipt of the report late this afternoon at the same time Santa Rosa police announced the investigation was completed....
Ravitch said her office will determine whether or not violations of criminal law are believed to have occurred, and if any individuals who are believed to have violated criminal law should be prosecuted.
She also said her office will provide a summary and recommendation to the Sonoma County Grand Jury and present the grand jury with investigative information upon request....
Lopez was carrying an airsoft BB rifle that resembled an AK-47 rifle while he was walking on Moorland Avenue near West Robles Avenue on Oct. 22.
Gelhaus, 48, who was in a sheriff’s patrol car with another as-yet-unidentified deputy, told Santa Rosa police he thought the rifle was real and ordered Lopez to drop it.
Gelhaus fired eight shots, seven of which struck Lopez, who died at the scene. According to Santa Rosa police, Gelhaus said he thought his and the other deputy’s life were in danger when the barrel of the rifle rose as Lopez turned toward him.
There have been at least 10 protest marches since the fatal shooting, and Lopez’s family has filed a civil rights violation and wrongful death complaint in federal court against the sheriff’s office and Sonoma County.
The complaint in part alleges the county negligently allowed Gelhaus to have contact with the public when it knew he suffered from vision problems and that the 24-year veteran had used excessive force and unjustifiably drew and misfired his firearm in the past.
(Excerpt) Read more at sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com ...
It took 3 months of investigation before they got this to the DA??? What were they waiting for???
He will walk.
Good thing the kid didn’t have a puppy with him or that would have been dead meat as well...
More than likely with this DA.
She is up for re-election in June and is stalling her decision until after that.
Sheriff’s department needed time for everyone to get their stories straight. Gehaus “feared for his life”, etc.
Everyone on the dept. has probably watched the dascam video a dozen times, and every witness has been interviewed, not independent of this department, of course.
After the Jonathan Ferrell shooting, where officer Kerrick walked scott free after pumping a dozen bullets into an unarmed college student with a 3.7 gpa, and no criminal history? I no longer have any faith in the justice system to prosecute any police misconduct. It’s a total travesty.
Uncle Chip ~ More than likely with this DA.
She is up for re-election in June and is stalling her decision until after that.
So there is hope? There actually could be an indictment right before the election if it will help her polling numbers?
Good Point —
Best of both worlds: indictment before the election to pacify the sheep, acquittal after the election to pander to the police...
I like this better:
Indictment before the election to pacify the sheep but loses the election anyway.
Me too, but that’s not the way she’d plan...
I wonder how much of the evidence is not submitted to grand juries.
Take for example, the Jonathan Ferrell shooting. How in the world could a grand jury vote for a dropping of charges against Officer Kerrick???
Would be nice to know, but I believe these grand jury hearings are done in total secrecy.
Look for a whitewash.
Not only have they[the witnesses] been interviewed, they have been threatened and instructed as what to say.
Absolutely criminal if that’s happened. But I put NOTHING past the police unions. I’m betting they are already on this case.
Do you have any knowledge to this happening, or is this speculation on your part based on past cases?
Group wants state attorney general to look into Andy Lopez case
Melrod said Ravitch’s office has devolved into “vicious internecine warfare” as her re-election opponent, Deputy District Attorney Victoria Shanahan, publicly criticizes her for a lack of transparency and for not removing herself from the case.
“At this juncture, the case of 13-year-old Andy Lopez has unfortunately become a political football being kicked back and forth between opposing electoral camps in the D.A.’s office,” Melrod wrote. “No fair, impartial or thorough investigation can result from such a morass of political infighting.”
http://www.petaluma360.com/article/20140209/ARTICLES/140209552/1036/business
Shanahan criticized Ravitch for failing to deliver on campaign promises to make the process speedier and more open.
Ravitch supporters fired back that Shanahan would have a conflict because her husband is a sheriff’s deputy.
Some speculation, and some of what different people told me over the years. Things like,”After they are gone, you will still be here and I will still be here, won’t we?” And A couple more that I can’t recall. I did not mean to infer that the witnesses would be told word for word what to say, but they would be given the general drift of the way the investigation was to go.
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