Jury clears Modesto Officers in Wrongful Death Suit of Latino Man

Fresno, California March 14, 2008 - Two Modesto police officers bear no liability in the death of Sammy Galvan, who was shot eight times when the authorities responded to a domestic dispute in his home 3½ years ago, a federal jury said Friday.

Jurors deliberated for less than one day, then unanimously returned a verdict in favor of the city as the five-day trial wound to a close in U.S. District Court in Fresno. Because of its no-fault finding, the panel did not consider the question of damages for Galvan's parents, who sought $3 million.

Susan and Ramon Galvan alleged in their wrongful death lawsuit that the officers used excessive force when they confronted their 22-year-old son, who was lying on his bed when police shined their flashlights into a darkened cottage behind his parents' home on West Roseburg Avenue. The assault and battery charges against the Modesto Police Department, for their treatment of Sammy’s father, were also dismissed.

In his final arguments, Modesto Deputy City Attorney James Wilson told the jury his version of what happened at the Galvan home on August 22, 2004. Wilson said that police work “routinely involves stupefying hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” He used that framework to set the scene of a domestic disturbance call gone horribly wrong. Wilson said that when the police were called by Susan Galvan, Sammy’s mother, officers Lyndon Yates and Mirl Morse were dispatched to the scene.

According to Wilson, when officers Yates and Morse arrived at the backyard cottage that Sammy lived in, they shined their flashlights through the open front door. They saw Sammy laying on his bed (it was 1 AM in the morning) and when the lights hit him he stood up. The officers said he had a knife in each hand and began to move towards them in an aggressive manner. Wilson said Sammy was told to “drop the knife” and seconds later officers Yates and Morse fired eight rounds. Four out of eight 45 caliber hollow point bullets hit and killed Sammy Galvan.

Attorneys for the Galvan family argued that things did not happen as the defense claimed. Walter Riley, in his closing statement, said the shooting was “not a lawful use of force.” Riley argued that Sammy Galvan did not present an immediate threat to the officers and they should have used less than lethal force to deal with the situation.

The defense (City of Modesto) claimed that Sammy Galvan was about to throw one of the two knives they said he held. An expert witness, brought in by the Galvan family’s attorneys, testified that Sammy could not have been throwing a knife. This testimony was based on the autopsy report that showed where he was shot and the trajectory of the bullets in his body. Wilson countered that “all they (police officers) had to do is to reasonably believe that this deadly threat is about to come to fruition, to act as a police officer.”

Wilson also presented a new theory during his closing argument that the officers were acting to prevent a “hostage situation” from occurring. He claimed that Yesenia Perez, Sammy’s girlfriend, was in the room and they were afraid that Sammy might take her hostage. There had been no evidence in the trial to suggest such a scenario.

In his final arguments Riley discredited officer Yates testimony that he saw Sammy move his left leg back and assume a fighting stance by pointing out that Yates could not see Sammy’s feet because there was a table and TV in front of him. Riley said that even if, as the defense argued, that Sammy said “Shoot me Mother Fucker, Shoot Me Mother Fucker” that you can’t kill someone because they say that. Yesenia Perez, who was in the room at the time, testified that Sammy never said anything. Is it possible that Sammy was awakened in the middle of the night, thinking someone was breaking into his house, and he grabbed a knife for self protection? The jury didn’t think so.

Riley also argued that the crime scene had been disturbed and it was impossible to determine where things ended up after the shooting. Some people have suggested that the police planted the knives. Wilson said that was not true and that Sammy took the knives from the kitchen and was laying with a knife in each hand, waiting for the officers to arrive. But, he did admit that the crime scene had been disturbed. “These things happen,” he said.

According to Aggie Rose-Chavez, another of the Galvan family’s legal team, the verdict will not be appealed. In fact, Rose-Chavez says she expects attorneys for the defense to get a legal order to force the Galvan family to pay for all the City of Modesto’s legal expenses in this case.

Several observers of the trial were pessimistic about the outcome of the trial. They said that the jury pool in the Federal Court system (particularly in Fresno) is very conservative. Over half of the jury pool had law enforcement connections - family members were police officers, they worked in one of the many valley prisons, etc. Furthermore, they observed, that it is very difficult to get a jury to believe a poor Latino family (like the Galvan family) and not believe police officers who have extensive training in how to testify in a courtroom. [MORE] and [MORE]