Facts

On April 30, 2009, Luis Gutierrez was walking home from the Department of Motor Vehicle in the City of Woodland when Yolo County Sheriff's Deputies Hernan Oviedo and Hector Bautista, and Sheriff's Sergeant Dale Johnson stopped him. The officers stopped him on a "consensual contact." They did not know him, and he had no criminal history. After Johnson identified himself verbally and displayed his gun and badge, Gutierrez shoved his hand into his pocket and ran. Johnson chased Gutierrez, who then pulled out a knife and tried to slash Johnson. Oviedo fatally shot Gutierrez in the shoulder blade from 10 feet away. Gutierrez's parents, Irma and Jose Gutierrez, sued the City of Woodland, Yolo County, and the three officers, alleging civil rights violations.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs doubted that Gutierrez had a knife, suggesting that some unknown person placed it at the scene of the altercation after the shooting. Plaintiffs alleged that Gutierrez's detention and killing were unconstitutional.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants argued that Gutierrez's own actions brought the shooting, and that the officers acted reasonably under the circumstances. In additions, the officers claimed that probable cause to pursue and further investigate existed because Gutierrez immediately put his hand in his pocket and ran into traffic after being contacted. DNA on the knife matched Gutierrez, and he had an abuse level of methamphetamine in his system. Defendants contended that the stop of Gutierrez was not detention without reasonable suspicion and the shooting did not amount to excessive force.

Result

The jury unanimously found the defendants acted reasonably, and the shooting was not excessive force. They found that Gutierrez was 100 percent at fault.