Facts

On Oct. 2, 2009, Efrain Lara Gutierrez, 31, was walking in the front yard of a residence four houses away from his home. Defendant Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David Salazar and his partner were on routine patrol in the residential neighborhood. Defendant Deputy Salazar saw Lara Gutierrez and also observed another man walking nearby with a cable in his hands.

Lara Gutierrez ran from the deputies into a nearby carport where he was shot and killed by defendant Deputy Salazar.

Plaintiffs were Lara Gutierrez's parents who sought survival and wrongful death damages under state and federal law.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs argued that the physical, forensic, and medical evidence showed that Lara Gutierrez could not have been coming at the deputy at the time the shots were fired and that the decedent was running away from the deputy when he was shot from behind. Specifically, all five shots that struck the decedent had a back-to-front trajectory, including two shots to the back. Also, the blood evidence showed that the decedent was moving away, not towards the deputy. The decedent's fingerprints weren't found on the knife. There were no third-party witnesses to the shooting who testified. Toxicology results indicated that the decedent had methamphetamine in his system.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Deputy Salazar claimed that Lara Gutierrez was lunging at Deputy Salazar and attacking him with a knife when Deputy Salazar fired five times and that he fired in self-defense.

Result

The jury found that Deputy Salazar had used excessive and unreasonable force and awarded plaintiffs $2 million in damages.

Other Information

Plaintiffs' counsel will be making an application for statutory attorney fees.