The unanimous ruling by the five-member panel, along with the decision Tuesday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office not to file any criminal charges in the case, fully exonerated Officer Frank Hernandez, a 14-year veteran of the department, of any wrongdoing. In clearing Hernandez, the commission went along with the recommendation of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck that the shooting be judged to have been within department policies.

Luis Carillo, an attorney representing the dead man's wife in a federal civil lawsuit against the city, denounced the commissioners' decision. "The script had already been written.... They just followed it," he said.

He was standing on the corner of Sixth Street and Union in the Los Angeles community of Pico Union or Westlake. The police claim he had a knife and was intending to use it on a pregnant woman. Many eye witnesses say that this was not true and that Manuel was murdered in cold blood. [MORE]