Trial begins in suit over Vista Deputy Shooting of Unarmed Latino Man

From [HERE]and [HERE]  Jury selection started Monday in the federal lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed Latino man shot to death by a San Diego Sheriff's deputy as he tried to flee nearly six years ago.

The death of Jesus Manzo was the final of three unrelated, fatal shootings of Latino men by deputies in Vista during a five-day span in the summer of 2005.

The shootings angered many in the city's Latino community ---- the population in Vista was about 42 percent Latino at the time ---- and sparked protests and allegations of racism in the Sheriff's Department.[MORE]  The families of the men each filed civil suits; the one involving Manzo is the last to be resolved.

According to the district attorney's report, deputies went to Manzo's Newport Drive home on Aug. 1, 2005 to question him about a stolen car and to check whether he was on a gang injunction.

Manzo fled when deputies approached. After a search, he was confronted by Deputy Lew Schott. When Manzo reached toward his waistband, Schott shot him once in the chest. Deputies later found that he had a multipurpose tool similar to a Leatherman.

Maria Melchor, 33, is Manzo's older sister. She said that she was at a neighbor's house when deputies arrived to question her brother in front of their home. Manzo panicked and ran to her, she said.

More officers arrived and surrounded him while helicopters flew overhead, Melchor said. While her brother ran around the neighbor's house, she went inside to call her sister. She heard a shot outside and ran to the window to see her brother dying, she said. 

He was not on the gang injunction, was unarmed and was not a threat, she said.[HERE] 

One of the investigators chasing Manzo sent out a radio broadcast that he had seen what appeared to be a gun on Manzo's hip.

During the foot chase, Manzo scaled a fence and landed in front of Schott.

Schott told investigators that he saw a black object sticking out of Manzo's belt, and saw Manzo reach for it.

Fearing it was a gun, he told investigators, he opened fire, shooting Manzo in the chest.

Melchor and Manzo's other sister, Maria “Nancy” Manzo, described their brother as a handsome man who worked in carpentry, liked to dance, helped his niece with her homework, and joked around with everyone.

The other suits ended in favor of the deputies.

In the Manzo lawsuit, the jury will have to decide whether Deputy Lewis Schott, who fired the fatal shot, used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment protections of the Constitution, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The lawsuit also accuses Schott of negligence, battery and wrongful death, and alleges that he interfered with Manzo's familial relationship with his mother and daughter.

In separate reviews, in 2006 and 2007, the San Diego County district attorney's office and the California Attorney General's office each determined that the Manzo shooting ---- as well as the other two deputy-involved shootings that summer ---- were legally justified.

"Everybody knows that law enforcement has a hard job, but we expect them not to kill people who are unarmed and who are not a danger," said Eugene Iredale, the attorney representing the Manzo family.

The attorney for the county, which is representing Schott, did not return requests for comment.

Aside from Schott, the family had sued others, including the Sheriff's Department. Following pretrial challenges to the suit, only Schott remains as a defendant.

During the five-day spate of shootings, two of the men ---- Manzo and Jorge Ramirez ---- had been running from deputies when they were shot; a third man, Sergio Vasquez, had thrown barbells at two deputies investigating a disturbance in his home.

None of the men were carrying guns. All three were later found to have meth in their system.

The suit by Vasquez's family was dismissed at summary judgment in favor of the defendants pretrial.

A jury cleared the officer in the case of Ramirez, who initially had been shot from behind.

During the shooting, the deputy reloaded his gun.

Last month, a federal jury hearing a civil lawsuit took just two hours to clear three deputies who shot to death an intoxicated parolee in a Vista trailer park in 2006, moments after he'd threatened his wife and beat a neighbor unconscious.