San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
San Jose man’s killing by cops brings damages of $2.65 million
Three years after police fatally shot 18yearold Anthony Nunez on his front porch in San Jose, a federal jury awarded his family $2.65 million in damages and determined that the two officers who killed him violated his civil rights.
The jury deliberated for three days and returned a verdict Tuesday that San Jose police officers Michael Santos and Anthony Vizzusi used excessive force against Nunez on July 4, 2016. Nunez’s father filed the lawsuit against the officers and the city of San Jose a year later in July 2017.
The jury awarded $2.5 million to Nunez’s estate and $50,000 to Nunez’s father.
“He’s relieved and happy that the jury heard the truth about what happened and proved that Anthony did not deserve to die,” said Adante Pointer, the family’s attorney, who works with the Law Offices of John Burris. “Anthony tried to take his own life, it didn’t work, and the people sent to help him wound up doing it.”
Nunez had been depressed and tried to shoot himself the day he died, but he survived a bullet grazing his head, according to court documents. One of Nunez’s family members called police and was instructed by the operator to take the
gun and hide it; he hid it in the backyard before officers arrived.
Vizzusi and Santos responded to the home as Nunez, bleeding and woozy, walked in and out of the house. The officers said they shot Nunez in selfdefense when he “raised a firearm toward San Jose police officers in a manner reasonably perceived ... as an immediate threat to use a deadly weapon,” court documents said.
After hearing from witnesses during the trial, who testified that Nunez had his hands at his side, jurors rejected the officers’ selfdefense claims and determined that Nunez was not pointing a gun at police when he was shot.
“I’m disappointed with the jury’s decision,” Police Chief Eddie Garcia said in a statement. “I stood by my officers when it happened and I stand by them today. They put their lives on the line for the community that day and followed their training.”
Vizzusi and Santos remain active officers with the San Jose Police Department.
The city can choose to appeal the verdict. San Jose officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Sellers, the state’s only elected police chief and the city of Santa Clara’s top cop, announced Tuesday he’ll soon retire. After leading the force for seven years, he’s expected to step down in September. We asked him a couple of questions.
What’s your proudest achievement as police chief ?
When I originally was thinking about running in 2012, I met with all the retired police chiefs. They were supportive of my decision to run with the condition that I continue to keep what we call the “Santa Clara Way.” We provide a high level of service and higher quality people. We hire the best employees possible and when hiring the best employee, he or she knew we were here for two reasons: that was to provide excellent service with 100% contact, 100% of the time, because this may be the only opportunity for a citizen to
interact with us.
What challenges will the next police chief face?
There are some law changes that have occurred with transparency. I think citizens have to understand it’s going to take a lot of resources to provide some of that information. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t, but it’s going to take some time and people have to be patient. My other concern is it’s difficult, because — especially with video footage, violent crime and use of force situations — it’s not what you want people to see. You see people getting injured and hurt. Imagine yourself as an officer who gets involved in a situation, then it’s on TV and the family and children have to relive it. They don’t want their loved ones to see that. Some of the people we interact with don’t want their loved ones to see what happened. It’s a new challenge for society in general, because not everyone is going to want the video to be released, just because of the graphic (nature) of it. Two people opened fire at Tanforan Mall in San Bruno on Tuesday afternoon, seriously injuring two young men and prompting the closures of two BART stations. No arrests have been made. A suspected gang member has been arrested and charged in the fatal Los Angeles shooting of Oakland Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s son, Victor McElhaney. California homicides dipped by 4.9% from 2017 to 2018, falling for the second straight year and returning to a downward trajectory after a twoyear spike. San Francisco is becoming the first big city in the nation to shutter its juvenile hall. The Oakland man accused of arson in one of nine suspicious constructionsite fires in the East Bay has pleaded guilty to the single count.
Ashley McBride and Gwendolyn Wu are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: gwendolyn. wu@sfchronicle.com, ashley. mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu ,@Ashleynmcb