Police get away with murder in the Central Valley

Here is a story from the Central Valley about how the police here get away with murder. The police in Madera had this man arrested and under control. He was handcuffed and in the back seat of a patrol car. An officer comes over and shoots him, point blank, as he is in the back seat of the car. The officer is cleared of any charges. Welcome to the Central Valley.

This follows the case in Fresno where officers shot an unarmed man who was accused of taking two cases of beer from a liquor store. The youth allegedly took the beer and drove a few miles away. The police found them and surrounded the van. Several people in the van got out when the police demanded that they surrender. The driver tried to drive away. He was shot dozens of times by a police department that is out of control.

Here is the story about the Madera case:

Officer won't face charges
Shooting of Madera man in police car is called an accident.
By Lisa Aleman-Padilla
The Fresno Bee
(Published Saturday, May 3, 2003, 5:25 AM)


The Madera County District Attorney's Office announced Friday it will not seek criminal charges against Madera police officer Marcy Noriega for her role in the shooting death of Everardo Torres last October.
Eric Wyatt, assistant district attorney, said an investigation determined Noriega did not intend to kill Torres.
"Though this was a terribly tragic event, after reviewing all of the evidence, it is clear officer Noriega's shooting of Everardo Torres was an accident," Wyatt said. "In such a situation, California penal law is equally as clear. Mere general negligence is insufficient to sustain a criminal charge."
Wyatt said criminal negligence is necessary to sustain a criminal charge and must go beyond "inattention, a mistake in judgment or a misadventure." It must be "an aggravated, reckless or grossly negligent act."
Wyatt said results from a six-month investigation did not support criminal negligence. "Given the disastrous consequences of the events that occurred on Oct. 27, 2002, this decision was not reached quickly or without a tremendous amount of reflection."
Torres, 24, was shot as he sat handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser after his arrest on charges of resisting and delaying police as they tried to quell a loud party at Madera Villa Apartments on North Schnoor Avenue.
Noriega told investigators she intended to shoot Torres with her nonlethal Taser because he was kicking at the car's window, but that she accidentally used her service weapon.
Torres died from a gunshot wound to the heart and liver that also pierced his right kidney, an autopsy revealed.
A Taser shoots an electric charge that overrides the central nervous system and contracts muscles, momentarily incapacitating a person without causing permanent injury.
On the night of the shooting, Wyatt said, a man sitting next to Torres in the squad car told investigators it was "accidental."
Wyatt said the DA's office is aware the decision may create resentment and anger within the community. "While we understand these feelings, we cannot allow them to drive our decision," Wyatt said. "Obviously, if there was any issue of intent, this whole issue would have stopped with a murder case."
It still is not clear whether Noriega, who has been on paid administrative leave since the incident, will return to work.
Madera police will conduct an internal investigation now that the DA's office has ruled.
"How long that will take or what the results will be, I don't know," Wyatt said.
The Torres family, which has retained attorney Cameron Stewart of the Cochran Firm in Los Angeles, said they had no comment about the ruling. The reporter can be reached at lapadilla [at] fresnobee.com or 675-6805.