Officer faces trial for manslaughter
Danville police Officer Andrew Hall pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm, stemming from a deadly encounter with an unarmed motorist on Nov. 3, 2018.
Hall, who has been on paid administrative leave ever since he shot a second man on March 11 — a case that is now under investigation — arrived to his arraignment at the Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez, where a small crowd of sheriff ’s deputies, reporters, activists and family members of the slain man, Laudemer Arboleda, gathered outside.
The arraignment lasted less than 10 minutes, after which Hall quickly departed through a side door of the courthouse. His attorney, Harry Stern, told reporters that he did not think it unusual for Hall to remain employed while facing a homicide prosecution, given that Hall was cleared by “multiple investigations.”
Only one of those investigations has been made public, though Stern said that prosecutors working for Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton had initially determined that the shooting was “lawful and justifiable.”
Becton’s spokesperson, Scott Alonso, disputed the allegation.
“Becton never cleared Officer Hall,” Alonso said, “and if anybody has some information about some other finding, then he should produce it.”
Data compiled by researchers at Bowling Green State University in Ohio shows that 822 members of law enforcement were criminally prosecuted in California from 2005 to 2015, resulting in 519 convictions and 362 terminations. The numbers suggest that a conviction of a sworn officer is more common than a firing.
Hall’s arraignment on Wednesday arose from an abrupt confrontation at the end of a winding, lowspeed pursuit more than two years ago, during which several officers followed Arboleda through the affluent suburb of Danville. Arboleda had been knocking on doors in a culdesac that morning and not responding when neighbors asked questions. A 911 caller described the 33yearold as “a strange individual,” but did not accuse him
of any crimes.
Hall intercepted the chase at Front Street and Diablo Road and fired 10 rounds into the car windshield and passengerside window of Arboleda’s Honda. Nine bullets struck Arboleda, who died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
After the shooting, Hall told investigators that he had feared for his life. He had stepped in the path of Arboleda’s Honda as Arboleda was trying to maneuver between two police cars — Hall’s cruiser and a supervisor’s SUV. Hall shot while backing away, later describing it as an instinctive response, because he thought the car would run him over.
John Burris, the attorney representing Arboleda’s family in a federal civil rights lawsuit, had a different interpretation.
“This officer is the one who placed himself in harm’s way,” Burris told a scrum of reporters outside the courthouse after the arraignment concluded. “He shot into a moving car, his gun discharged a number of times when he himself was not in a position of danger. The law is pretty clear. You cannot create a dangerous situation and confrontation for yourself, and shoot your way out of it, then claim selfdefense.”
The Contra Costa County Sheriff ’s Office cleared Hall of wrongdoing after a ninemonth investigation. For years, the office has held a contract to provide police services in Danville — an arrangement that’s come under scrutiny because of Hall’s actions.
Becton spent 2½ years reviewing the incident, during which time Hall returned to work as a traffic cop, until he shot and killed a second person in March. The officer was responding to calls about a person throwing rocks on the freeway when he saw Tyrell Wilson, 33, crossing a busy street near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass. The two had a tense exchange during which Wilson pulled out a knife. Seconds later, Hall shot him in the face.
Arboleda’s sister, Jennifer Leong, said she believes that second shooting forced Becton to take action on the first shooting. She’s frustrated that the investigation took so long, and that Hall was allowed to keep working. But she and other family members are relieved that the prosecution is moving forward.
“It’s about time,” Leong said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Wilson’s death briefly thrust Danville into a conversation about police violence and accountability that caused uprisings last summer, but had barely touched the affluent suburbs of the San Ramon Valley. It also drew renewed attention to Arboleda, whose story, by then, had faded.
On March 28, activists organized a Black Lives Matter march to the Danville Police Station, a sight so unusual that bystanders stood on the sidewalks and heckled.
The TriValley town, known for its low crime rates, spacious real estate and 300yearold oak tree, is now mired in two federal lawsuits — for two police shootings that occurred in the past 20 years. Hall, 32, was the shooter in both of them.
“This officer is the one who placed himself in harm’s way.”
John Burris, attorney