Last November, the Yolo County District Attorney’s office released their report on the Shooting of Luis Gutierrez Navarro by Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputies. That report concluded, “When considering all of the facts and circumstances known to them at the time, the use of deadly force by the deputies was objectively reasonable and justified and therefore does not warrant the filing of criminal charges against Sgt. Johnson, Deputy Oviedo or Deputy Bautista.”
At the time, the Vanguard raised some troubling questions about inconsistencies in the report. Those questions have grown with last month’s hearings by the Yolo County Independent Human Rights Commission, the testimony by several witnesses, and the report by investigator Frank Roman.
We conclude that given the summary nature of the report, it is difficult to make a definitive conclusion as to whether the accounts of the officers are consistent with the location of the bullets. However, we have considerable questions about the veracity of official claims and request that the county release the full interviews, diagrams, and crime scene photos to the public, so that the public may analyze the reports for themselves.
Evidence At the Scene
However, the report does describe where five of the six shots went. It is unclear from the report whether any of these killed Mr. Gutierrez. It should also be pointed out that five of the six shots missed despite the fact that Sgt. Johnson was seven to ten feet away from Gutierrez when shots were fired and Sgt. Johnson fired four of the six shots.
According to the official report:
“Also located northeast of the immediate shooting scene were two apparent bullet strikes on the north concrete wall of the overpass and the remains of a brass jacketed bullet attached to the north chain link fence. An elongated apparent bullet strike was located along the south concrete wall of the overpass. An expended bullet was located on the south sidewalk at the east end of the overpass. An expended bullet was later recovered from a residence in a mobile home park northeast of the scene. The location and trajectory of that bullet were consistent with the shooting scene.”
As Investigator Frank Roman explained during his report last month to the Independent Human Rights Commission, the expended bullet that was recovered from a mobile home was first identified by officers who viewed the bullet hole in the ceiling of the resident’s daughter’s bedroom and determined that they would not be able to recover the bullet.
Mr. Roman then tracked down where the bullet went, found the bullet hole, and cut out slabs of the ceiling, with permission of the resident, until he found the bullet. He described the bullet in “pristine condition,” meaning that it was a direct shot not a deflected shot or ricochet.
The Vanguard’s investigation began by trying to track down the bullet shot and determine the likely trajectory of the bullet that was fired. In looking at a Google Earth image, we believed the likely target was the house in the farthest southwest corner of the Mobile Home Park. It would have been a wild shot, but seemed the most likely.
As it turned out, that inclination was false. The investigator informed the Vanguard that the bullet was much further away, at the very north end of the park and the third row over. The Vanguard was able to find the bullet hole and confirm the location of the mobile home.
(Note that the red lines in the above image show the possibility of trajectories based on possible positions of the officers involved. Regardless of possition, the officer would have to fire from southwest to northeast)
The Vanguard determined using Google Earth that the home was in fact 700 feet from the point on the overpass where Mr. Gutierrez was killed. This shot in and of itself is concerning because there was a good possibility that it could have wounded or even killed an innocent bystander. Shooting off an overpass into a populated area itself might be a violation of department policies on weapon use.
Where Was Gutierrez and Why Did Most of the Shots Go North Rather Than South?
This is significant for two reasons. First, Mr. Gutierrez’s body was found on the south side of the street, adjacent to the sidewalk (see above image). Second, according to the Sgt. Johnson’s account, “As he ran eastbound, Navarro crossed to the south side of East Gum Avenue.”
It was on the south side of the street that the confrontation would occur.
“Sgt. Johnson had his gun in his hand as he chased after Navarro. Sgt. Johnson identified himself as a law enforcement officer about 15 times. Sgt. Johnson decided to physically grab Navarro, so he re-holstered his gun. When Sgt. Johnson got close enough to grab him, Navarro was able to duck away from Sgt. Johnson’s grasp, causing Sgt. Johnson to miss him. Navarro then pulled a knife out of his pocket and made a slashing motion at Sgt. Johnson. Sgt. Johnson evaded the assault by quickly moving back away from Navarro. Sgt. Johnson described his maneuver as “trying to make myself into a C or reverse C type of thing.” After he jumped back, he saw the knife, which was a folding type knife, not a buck knife. Sgt. Johnson heard a gunshot, which he assumed was fired by Deputy Oviedo. Sgt. Johnson drew his gun and fired two or three times. Navarro was about seven to ten feet away. Sgt. Johnson believed that Deputy Oviedo fired another shot. Navarro then threw the knife and fell to the ground.”
Deputy Oviedo describes this portion of the incident as follows:
“Deputy Oviedo saw Navarro reach into his right pocket and remove a knife. He could see the three-or four-inch blade. Navarro lunged at Sgt. Johnson as if to stab him, but Deputy Oviedo qualified that by saying he could not recall the exact movement. Deputy Oviedo drew his duty weapon. Both Sgt. Johnson and Deputy Oviedo discharged their firearms. Deputy Oviedo fired twice but was not sure if it was he or Sgt. Johnson who fired first. Navarro threw the knife onto the sidewalk, and it slid off into the gravel.”
Nowhere in the report does it describe where the officers were standing in relation to Mr. Gutierrez. Nor do they account for why they missed with five of the six shots despite the fact that the officer that shot four times describes himself as seven to ten feet away.
The question we have is why four of the six shots ended up going north, some clearly missing wildly if Mr. Gutierrez was on the south side of the street and at relatively close range. A more detailed account of what happened might resolve some of these questions, or it might make the situation more messy.
Autopsy Report
According to the report by Deputy Coroner Laurel Weeks on May 1, 2009, the autopsy found an entrance wound, “apparent distant range” on the “posterior upper right shoulder.”
This suggests that the shot was not at close range, although several of the law enforcement people we talked to indicated that it might be in the seven to ten foot range described by Officer Johnson, which would be far enough to avoid powder burns or residue on the victim.
Moreover, the fact that the shot came to the posterior suggests that the victim was either moving away or turning to move away from the officers at the time of the shot. That fact alone should give the public pause about the shooting. We obviously need more details.
Those the Vanguard spoke to did indicate that first of all, this would all be happening in a blink of the eye. That officers are trained to double pump and that those actions may become reflexive. There also may have been concern that he was a threat to the community and therefore needed to be apprehended. Nevertheless, all agreed that the fact that he was shot in the posterior alone was troubling as it may suggest that Gutierrez was not the imminent threat to officers that they suggest in their statement. Nor do they account for how he was shot in the summary of their description in the official report. Again, it may simply be a poor summary or the real story may show the shooting to be far more messy. We simply do not know and believe that a full disclosure of the investigation may settle many of these questions.
What Happened on the Overpass
There are a few possible scenarios though that arise.
The first possibility is that at least one of the officers ended up to the South of Mr. Gutierrez on the bridge or Southwest. That would put their shots to the north and northeast portion of the overpass. The rest of the story could be consistent if this occurred, but there is no account or diagram to show where the officers were in relation to Mr. Gutierrez. More concerning is that it still does not account for how he shot from behind, if he represented an imminent threat to the officers at the time he was shot and killed as they claim.
Based on testimony of the witnesses however, we believe this possibility is less likely.
Vienna Monique Navarro, no relation to Luis Gutierrez Navarro, is one of the witnesses that the report included testimony from and also testified at the hearing back in February.
Ms. Navarro testified that she was driving very slowly on the bridge when she saw three men and Luis Gutierrez. At first, she thought the men were playing around and simply running from one side of the street to the other. However, then she saw them punching and swinging their arms. She saw Mr. Gutierrez exchange punches with one of the officers. She described Mr. Gutierrez’s face as very red, but said there was no blood that she could see.
She was driving about 2 miles per hour very slow and Luis came within three feet of her vehicle and made eye contact with her. He looked very scared, confused, and shocked.
She said, “I didn’t know they were officers until one of their jackets flew open and I saw the badge. And even then I wasn’t really sure, it didn’t click in my head that they were police officers.”
She described that he stopped and turned around. “He was doing this backwards jog type move. It kind of looked like he was turning to see where they were. He turned around and I heard three gunshots as he was doing a jogging motion.”
She continued, “I heard three or four or five shots, and I was looking in my rearview mirror and I saw him fall down on his side. When I saw that I took off down to Kaye Lane.”
This scenario would put Mr. Gutierrez towards the middle of the street and moving towards the south end of the street. He was described here as running backwards in a jogging motion.
According to our sources, another witness has come forward to describe the police shooting at Mr. Gutierrez as he ran.
That would suggest he was running north to south, with the first shot ending up the farthest off and the other three hitting on the north side, before a fifth shot hit the south wall and a sixth shot put him on the ground.
This was be consistent with witness testimony and also account for the fact that he was shot in the back of his shoulder.
However, we would need to see the exact locations of all six gun shots, what caliber of bullet they were, and read the full account rather than the summary of what occurred.
As one person who read the account remarked, the summary was poorly written and has huge holes in it so as to invite the kind of criticism and scrutiny it has received. The DA’s office should have anticipated this in advance and put out a fuller version, unless there was messiness that they wished to avoid coming to light.
The Vanguard is continuing to investigate the shooting of Mr. Gutierrez as is the Independent Civil Rights Commission. Much more will be coming out in the coming weeks.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
The most troubling thing is the way the report was written. Too many holes; like you say, the report invites criticism and a level of doubt.
I think the D.A did not expect that a big “deal” was going to be made about the death of a farm worker in Woodland, and I think the time that went into drafting the report reflects that.
Any level headed person can tell that the D.A’s handling of the investigation was very one sided and sloppy.
To the north of the mobile home park is a very large drainage pond. The shots were fired in a pattern of 4 hesitation then 2 more. The entire situation could of been handled better.
Is the FBI or someone else looking into this?
[quote]… in addition to the bullet that was recovered in the mobile home park to the northeast of the scene, there were two other bullet strikes on the north concrete wall of the overpass and the remains of another attached to the north chain link fence. That means four of the six shots went north.[/quote] As I will explain below, it sounds to me like these were probably fired by Oviedo. [quote] First, Mr. Gutierrez’s body was found on the south side of the street, adjacent to the sidewalk (see above image). Second, according to the Sgt. Johnson’s account, “As he ran eastbound, Navarro crossed to the south side of East Gum Avenue.” The question we have is why four of the six shots ended up going north, some clearly missing wildly if Mr. Gutierrez was on the south side of the street and at relatively close range.[/quote] The most likely explanation would seem to be that 1) the confrontation between Johnson and Gutierrez-Navarro began on the north side of the overpass; 2) that Gutierrez-Navarro pulled out his knife while still on the North side of the overpass; 3) that Oviedo, seeing the knife, was south-west of Gutierrez-Navarro at that point, perhaps quite far away; and 4) that Oviedo shot at Gutierrez-Navarro from that side and missed.
If so, it was Oviedo’s bullet which went northeast into the mobile home.
In the face of gunfire, Gutierrez-Navarro tried to escape by running across the overpass northwest to southeast. Any shots then that Johnson fired at Gutierrez-Navarro would have been from north to south or northwest to southeast. It would seem likely, as well, that being much closer and firing later, Johnson’s bullet hit and killed Gutierrez-Navarro.
I don’t know that is what happened, but it seems to fit your description.
[quote]She continued, “I heard three or four or five shots, and I was looking in my rearview mirror and I saw him fall down on his side. When I saw that I took off down to Kaye Lane.”[/quote] I believe that street is called Kate Lane, not Kaye.
If true and he was trying to flee, it becomes more questionable that they shot and killed. Remember as well, the closer guy fired four times, not the further away guy and supposedly the first shot came from the further away guy.
If true and he was trying to flee, it becomes more questionable that they shot and killed. Remember as well, the closer guy fired four times, not the further away guy and supposedly the first shot came from the further away guy.
[i]”Remember as well, the closer guy (Johnson) fired four times, not the further away guy and supposedly the first shot came from the further away guy.”[/i]
I just re-read David’s piece in this regard and you have that right and that suggests my scenario was wrong.
So four or even five shots were fired south to north or southwest to northeast.
It seems likely that Johnson was closer and fired two of the four (or three of the five) shots which went north or north east; and that Oviedo fired the other two shots from the south or southwest to the north or northeast.
Because I presume Oviedo was further away, it makes sense to me that his bullet was the one which missed so wildly and made it to that mobile home. But even if it was Johnson’s, it seems very likely that the suspect was at that point northeast of the officers.
So you might have a scene in which Johnson is on the overpass, due south of Gutierrez-Navarro, who is on the far north side of the overpass. They are at that time somewhat close to one another. Meanwhile, Oviedo is southwest of Gutierrez-Navarro and west of Johnson, farther away from the suspect.
Gutierrez-Navarro, being confronted by Johnson, pulls out his knife. The cops see it and fire four or five shots. Gutierrez-Navarro was then either hit by one of those five shots or four shots missed.
As he fled to the southeast — “He was doing this backwards jog type move. It kind of looked like he was turning to see where they were.” — Johnson chased after him and, if Gutierrez-Navarro was not yet shot, Johnson fired two more shots and one of them hit him and killed Gutierrez-Navarro; or Gutierrez-Navarro had already been fatally wounded on the north side of the overpass, but Johnson did not know that and fired his fourth and final shot as Gutierrez-Navarro ran southeast, missing to the south side of the overpass.
I think your scenario makes sense, no scenario makes sense where they aren’t shooting a guy running away. I’d want to see the full version of the statements by the deputies to see if their account makes sense.
One thing which seems to me true, regardless if the cops are guilty of wrongdoing in this case or they acted correctly within the law, is that their accounts are far from perfect and thus not “the full truth.” I don’t think that means necessarily that they are covering anything up. Rather, I think when things are happening very fast and one is in the heat of battle, it is impossible to fully comprehend everthing which has just happened and harder still to reconstruct it accurately later. Likewise, eyewitness accounts can be right in some respects and wrong in others, because at times people think they saw one thing when often they saw something else. This essay explains this notion better ([url]http://martinblindermd.com/witness.html[/url]).
David,
You state this in your article: “Nowhere in the report does it describe where the officers were standing in relation to Mr. Gutierrez.”
However on page 8 of the DA Report, it reads: “When Sgt. Johnson caught up to Navarro and tried to grab him, Navarro was in the roadway. Sgt. Johnson was closer to the south sidewalk and was facing toward Navarro in a general northeast direction.”
It would appear that Sgt. Johnson, after he attempted to grab Navarro, was repositioned southeast of Navarro. Consequently, upon firing his weapon, the trajectory of his bullets would be consistent with the apparent bullet strikes northeast of the shooting, which may help explain some of your questions.
That was bad writing by me, that sentence meant to say it does not say where both of the officers were standing in relation to Mr. Gutierrez and I should have included that quote from page 8 as well.
I think we figured out that the shot into the mobile home was on a trajectory roughly 67 degrees off from where Gutierrez died right next to the south sidewalk.
You also end up with some interesting problems trying to account for the 7 to 10 foot distance given where that he ended up by the sidewalk, that distance would either place the officer almost due west or on the other side of the guard rail.
Finally, there still needs to be an accounting for why he repeatedly missed at point blank range. A lot of this will be answered I think when it becomes clear that Gutierrez and probably the officers were moving during the shooting.
edit: Sgt Johnson would have been positioned southwest of Navarro.
David,
I see, well is the purpose of this investigation to try to nail down about how far away they were when they shot him, primarily? For the most part this portion of the report is relatively clear: one officer was north shooting south and the other was facing southwest shooting northeast.
Stands to reason that those bullets that were found(most likely) to the north were Johnson’s and those found in the south were Oviedo’s.
There are many more inconsistencies in the report beyond those made by each officer.
[i]”Sgt Johnson would have been positioned southwest of Navarro”[/i]
I have a minor, pedantic point on Spanish names: Navarro, though it is his last listed name, is not his family name or his surname. Navarro is his mother’s family’s surname and should not be used in place of his surname.
Although some Spanish speaking countries do it a bit differently, the norm is to have a first name, then father’s surname (which becomes the child’s patronymic surname) and last the mother’s surname. So if you were to refer to him by his surname, that would be Gutierrez, not Navarro.
This seems to be confused in the police report, because they call him Mr. Navarro. That would be like calling the dictator of Cuba President Ruz, in place of President Castro. The dictator’s full name* is Fidel Castro Ruz. Castro came from his father (Ángel Castro) and Ruz from his mother (Lina Ruz). His parents, also, had third names on the end, which were from their mothers.
As I noted, a few Spanish speaking countries do it a bit differently. Some put the letter “y” (which means “and”) in between the father’s and mother’s surnames, and some hyphenate them. (A lot of Mexicans hyphenate their names.)
Historically, this third Spanish name has been the source of confusion for Anglophones, mistakenly thinking the person’s last name was his family name. A famous example of that was with the great SF Giant from the Dominican Republic, Felipe Rojas Alou. Rojas was his surname, not Alou. But the Giants didn’t understand that and put Alou on his jersey and on his contract and thereafter he, his two brothers who both played in the majors and his son, Moisés, have been known by their incorrect family name, Alou. By contrast, Mel Rojas, who is Felipe’s nephew by another brother, played in the majors with his correct surname.
*It’s actually Fidel Alejandro Vittore Castro Ruz, but Alejandro and Vittore are just unused middle names.
Rich,
That was.
The purpose is was to start asking questions about whether he was a threat to the officers when they shot and killed him. If he was running away from the officers, that would bring into question the threat he posed. There are other problems as well, as you suggest.
[quote]You also end up with some interesting problems trying to account for the 7 to 10 foot distance given where that he ended up by the sidewalk, that distance would either place the officer almost due west or on the other side of the guard rail.
Finally, there still needs to be an accounting for why he repeatedly missed at point blank range. A lot of this will be answered I think when it becomes clear that Gutierrez and probably the officers were moving during the shooting. [/quote]
How do we know for sure how far away GUTIERREZ was from the curb? Couldn’t Johnson have been 7-10 feet southwest, which wouldn’t put him beyond the guard rail, or would it? Would that be inconsistent with your calculation, 64 degrees?
So if we were to determine that Gutierrez and(or) Johnson were moving this may indicate that Guiterrez was not actually a threat to the officers at the time they fired on him? Is that the point?
Rich: I agree with you. It’s always been irksome and why I have always called him Mr. Gutierrez rather than Mr. Navarro in my stories.
Superfluous:
“How do we know for sure how far away GUTIERREZ was from the curb? Couldn’t Johnson have been 7-10 feet southwest, which wouldn’t put him beyond the guard rail, or would it? Would that be inconsistent with your calculation, 64 degrees?”
Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to show the photos that shows exactly where he died, copyright laws, but he’s almost right against the sidewalk. So if you figure out a 7 to 10 foot radius (assuming that the distance given is fairly accurate by Sgt. Johnson and given the coroner’s report, it’s not closer than that since they call it a distant shot with no power burns), that pushes him fairly far to the west to get to that distance, that accounts for the 67 degree angle to the shot (if the further officer hit the mobile home, the angle even more off).
“So if we were to determine that Gutierrez and(or) Johnson were moving this may indicate that Guiterrez was not actually a threat to the officers at the time they fired on him? Is that the point?”
That’s my thought at least. Or one possibility. (And that doesn’t include questions about the knife itself).
David,
Sorry, 67 degrees.
So the issue, amongst others, is (A) Johnson would have to have been a certain distance away from Gutierrez when Johnson shot at him(7-10 feet would be consistent with this) because there were no powder burns and (B) considering the proximity of Gutierrezs’ body to the curb, there’s no way Johnson could have been 7-10 feet away from Gutierrez(southwest) because that would place Johnson beyond the guard rail, which just isn’t feasible.
If Johnson was closer than 7-10 feet from Gutierrez when he fired his weapon at him, how probable is it that powder burns would exist?
Given the radius and the location of the body, what do you estimate is the furthest Johnson could have been from Gutierrez at the time Johnson shot at him?
By the way, who has copy rights over these photos? Is there absolutely no way the public can view them?
DG: [i]”we … request that the county release the full interviews, diagrams, and crime scene photos to the public …” [/i]
Super, generally speaking, any records (including pictures) in a criminal investigation can be obtained by way of a public records request. (You don’t have to have any media affiliation to make a PRR.) However, it sounds like, from David’s report, that the photos are still deemed off-limits. But eventually — I would guess soon — everything in a closed-case is available via a PRR, unless some information is deemed to be a part of an employee’s private personnel file.
[quote]So the issue, amongst others, is (A) Johnson would have to have been a certain distance away from Gutierrez when Johnson shot at him(7-10 feet would be consistent with this) because there were no powder burns and (B) considering the proximity of Gutierrezs’ body to the curb, there’s no way Johnson could have been 7-10 feet away from Gutierrez(southwest) because that would place Johnson beyond the guard rail, which just isn’t feasible.[/quote]
To start with, and given the positioning that would put the shot to the mobile home park, 67 degrees off.
[quote]
If Johnson was closer than 7-10 feet from Gutierrez when he fired his weapon at him, how probable is it that powder burns would exist?[/quote]
Not sure the answer, the coroner’s report only characterizes it as distant and from talking to law enforcement, they say distant would put it at fairly close range. BTW, it could be that Oviedo shot Gutierrez but that would put him a lot further away.
Given the radius and the location of the body, what do you estimate is the furthest Johnson could have been from Gutierrez at the time Johnson shot at him?
What ever came out of the FBI investigation? Does anyone have any information on yesterday’s march or is it next week?