Ever wonder how lawyers challenge a justified shooting?

A defense lawyer used this video captured on the officer’s lapel camera to discredit his version of events.

In this case ambiguity in the video captured by officer’s lapel camera provided the opportunity, and the defense attorney grabbed it.

by Jack Dunphy

You are patrolling alone, in uniform and in a marked police car, when the radio informs you of a robbery nearby. You are provided with a description of the suspect, who is said to be armed with a gun. You drive to the place the suspect was last seen and there, right in front of you, is a man matching the description you’ve been given.

You exit your car, draw your sidearm, and order the man, loudly and in no uncertain terms, to show you his hands. Rather than comply, the man begins to edge away and then runs. As he runs, he pulls a gun from his pocket. And now, in less than the time it takes to imagine it, comes your decision: Do you fire at him, or do you wait until he makes his intentions more clear? And if you choose to wait, what might happen to you if you wait too long?

This was the situation facing Officer Brian Pitzer of the Albuquerque Police Department last October 29. Joaquin Ortega, 34, had reportedly robbed a woman and her 7-year-old grandson at gunpoint and then tried to carjack a truck. Video shot from Officer Pitzer’s lapel camera shows him stopping his car in the street outside a muffler store, where Ortega is standing in the parking lot. “Let me see your hands now!” Pitzer shouts to Ortega, who, for reasons soon to become clear, refuses to comply. Pitzer repeats the command several more times before Ortega breaks and runs.

In watching the video, it’s difficult to discern exactly when Ortega pulls his handgun. We can see him run between two cars parked in front of the muffler store, at which time Pitzer broadcasts that he is in a foot chase. Pitzer then fires two rounds as Ortega runs behind one of the cars. When Ortega emerges running from the other side of the car, Pitzer fires five more rounds at him.

Only by analyzing the video closely can one see that Ortega, as he runs from behind the car, throws the gun away behind him. With a bullet now in his shoulder, Ortega runs a bit further before dropping to the ground, there to be taken to a hospital, then to court, and finally, we can hope, to the prison he will call home for some years to come.

But not if his lawyer can help it.

Read the rest.

Jack Dunphy is the pseudonym of a police officer in Southern California.