By Helen Shamamyan
OAKLAND, CA – California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week issued a report from the California Department of Justice in review of Sean Monterrossa’s death by police shooting, stating the evidence to back the criminal charges against the officer involved is insufficient.
The Department of Justice’s review focused on the criminal liability of the officer, but not yet on the “potential administrative or civil liability,” according to the press release by the State of California DOJ.
Monterrosa was shot and killed by a Vallejo Police Department officer on June 2, 2020, as the officer “fired five rounds through the windshield of the officer’s vehicle” at Monterrosa, according to the DOJ report.
AG Bonta said, “Sean Monterrosa’s life mattered and there is nothing that can make up for his death. His loss is and will continue to be felt by his family and the Bay Area community… It’s critical that these difficult incidents undergo a transparent, fair, and thorough review.
“My office remains committed to doing everything in our power to prevent these kinds of incidents from occurring and putting forward policy solutions to help ensure law enforcement are responsive to the needs of their communities.”
Bonta continued, stating, “To that end, we recently negotiated a civil stipulated judgment with the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) to institute crucially necessary reforms to their policies and practices. Public safety and accountability requires trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
To have charged the officer with homicide, the DOJ said it must be convinced the “evidence proves guilt of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt and that the admissible evidence is sufficient to warrant conviction after hearing all the evidence and considering any defenses that could be raised in the case.”
After thoroughly reviewing the dispatch records, surveillance video, witness testimonies, autopsy report, and 911 recordings, the DOJ declared it is not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the assailing officer did not act in self-defense.
Despite the fact that possible destruction of evidence was involved in the case, the DOJ added it decided it could not charge the officers involved due to a further lack of evidence of intent to suppress or destroy criminal evidence from the incident.
After the shooting occurred, another officer fired through the windshield of a Vallejo police vehicle, which was promptly replaced and discarded by the police after the damages.
However, the DOJ determined there was insufficient proof the officers who replaced the windshield acted with criminal intent or were related to the incident.
With no criminal charges to be filed against the involved officers, expert reports and the DOJ both indicated that the tactics used by the officers on the night of the shooting could be improved, which the DOJ and VPD have been working to reform.
The DOJ, VPD and Vallejo City entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 5, 2020, in which the Police Department was ordered to institute a modernized policing plan.
During a review of the VPD’s policies and procedures, the DOJ concluded the “VPD failed to uniformly and adequately enforce the law, based in part, because of defective or inadequate policies, practices, and procedures.
“DOJ is currently seeking court approval of the stipulated judgment with court oversight requiring VPD and the city of Vallejo to implement the remaining reforms, and to implement additional reforms addressing civilian complaints, bias-free policing, stops, searches, seizures, and arrests, and ongoing oversight of these reforms,” according to the report released by the DOJ.
The DOJ’s comprehensive civil rights investigation has ordered the VPD carry out its long list of reform recommendations to prevent future “use-of-force” incidents that lead to incidents of harm or death, such as in the Monterrosa case.
