Jury returns defense verdict in Orange County excessive force case

A California Highway Patrol officer did not use excessive force when he fatally shot an unarmed mentally ill man in 2016, a federal jury found, rejecting a lawsuit by his mother.

The defense verdict, returned late Tuesday afternoon, followed a four-day trial that included testimony from Officer Daniel Agee, who said he shot and killed 27-year-old Mauricio Barron Jr., on Oct. 10, 2016, because Barron told him he had a gun and was going to shoot him, then walked toward him and took a "shooting stance."

Barron wasn't armed, but Agee testified that he feared he was reaching for a weapon, so he shot him.

Plaintiff's attorney Dale K. Galipo, a veteran civil rights lawyer based in Woodland Hills, has a long record of winning substantial damage awards, including a $33.5 million damages verdict in federal court earlier this year, but he never made it to the damages phase in this case: Jurors unanimously rejected his excessive force claim after deliberating 2 hours.

In an opening statement last week, Galipo told the jury of three men and four women that Agee's account wasn't believable, while Deputy Attorney General Mark A. Brown said Agee reasonably believed Barron had a gun and intended to shoot him.

Barron was running in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Irvine after a confrontation with a childhood friend that ended with Barron driving away in the man's Bronco. He'd never been in trouble before, but his mental health had deteriorated in the days before his death, and his family was trying to find him help, according to Galipo.

As Barron's family wept in the gallery, Agee answered questions about the deadly encounter, acknowledging he never saw Barron with a gun but emphasizing he didn't know if he had one or not.

Under cross-examination from Brown, Agee struggled not to cry as he told jurors the shooting is "the only time I've ever had to use my firearm against another human."

"By him hiding his hands and approaching me, he's taking the time away and he's taking the distance away, and he's not cooperating. So there's nothing I can do with that," Agee said.

Brown defended CHP and Agee with Supervising Deputy Attorney General Richard J. Rojo.

Galipo, of Woodland Hills, represented Barron's mother, Leticia Barron, with associate Renee V. Masongsong. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna presided. Barron v. State of California, 17-CV01275 (C.D. Cal., filed July 21, 2017).