Judge says she doesn’t buy cop’s selfdefense claim in killing.
Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler ruled to allow the voluntary manslaughter charge to proceed to trial, along with an enhancement for personal use of a firearm.
A highprofile manslaughter case against a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy is headed to trial, after a judge signaled Tuesday that she didn’t buy the deputy’s selfdefense claim.
The preliminary hearing in a Martinez courtroom offered the first glimpse of the prosecution’s case against Deputy Andrew Hall, who was assigned to the town of Danville when he shot and killed 33yearold Laudemer Arboleda at the end of a meandering chase on Nov. 3, 2018.
Hall fired 10 rounds through the windshield and passengerside window of Arboleda’s Honda when he intercepted the pursuit at a busy intersection, near the downtown strip of the affluent San Ramon Valley suburb.
The 32yearold officer, who is currently on administrative leave from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, showed up to court in a suit and didn’t react as the prosecution showed a series of five dashboard and bodyworn camera videos — different perspectives of the shooting.
Members of Arboleda’s family sat together in a middle row, occasionally dabbing at their eyes or shaking their heads as the attorneys laid out arguments and crossexamined two witnesses — both senior inspectors in the office of Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton.
“There was no basis for him to kill my son,” Arboleda’s mother, Jeannie Atienza, said during a courtroom
recess, her voice rising.
Her daughter, Jennifer Leong, cut in.
“There’s definitely no remorse,” she said, referring to Hall’s composure throughout the hearing.
Prosecutors largely relied on video evidence to support their manslaughter and firearm charges, replaying, over and over again, the critical moment when Hall got out of his cruiser and stepped in the path of the Honda, drawing his gun. Arboleda’s car lurched forward, squeezing through the gap between Hall’s car and a sergeant’s SUV. Hall began shooting, later telling investigators he feared the Honda would run him over and kill him.
“His actions were unreasonable,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Walpole said during the hearing. “This didn’t need to happen. This shouldn’t have happened.”
Eric Solzman, a senior inspector for the District Attorney’s Office, testified that Arboleda was shot nine times. He lost consciousness after the bullets struck him, and lived for about five minutes before dying of a fatal gunshot wound that penetrated his heart, Solzman said.
Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler ruled to allow the voluntary manslaughter charge to proceed to trial, along with an enhancement for personal use of a firearm. She dropped a second count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, saying the prosecution had failed to prove that Hall’s handgun was semiautomatic.
Mockler rejected the defense attorneys’ argument that Hall had acted in selfdefense.
“At this stage, I’m not
convinced,” the judge said, noting that Arboleda did not pose a threat of great bodily injury or death to anyone. She said Hall put himself in harm’s way “by his actions.”
She also contrasted Hall with the other officers involved in the chase, who say in the videos that they only want to talk to Arboleda.
Hall’s attorney, Harry Stern, characterized the case as “pure selfdefense,” arguing that Arboleda was unpredictable, that he had committed multiple traffic violations during the “catandmouse” pursuit, that he had further raised suspicions by throwing a substance — later analyzed but never identified — out the car window, and that his Honda was aimed at Hall’s “extended right foot” when he squeezed through the gap.
Stern also appeared
to telegraph a second defense: that Becton filed charges largely because she was facing public pressure. Her office lingered over the investigation for 2½ years, during which time Hall, who was still working as a traffic cop in Danville, shot and killed a second man.
A separate probe into the shooting death of 33yearold Tyrell Wilson is ongoing. Stern has hinted in previous interviews that Becton initially deemed the Arboleda shooting “lawful,” then reversed course. She announced the felony counts against Hall in April, on the same day the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office released video of the Wilson shooting. The office has a contract to provide police services in Danville.
When Stern crossexamined senior District Attorney’s Office inspector Mike Morley
on Tuesday, he asked whether Morley had done any investigative work on the Arboleda case between 2018 and 2021.
“No,” Morley said, acknowledging, however, that he could not speak for other people assigned to the investgation. He believed another senior inspector “may have been involved in some review within the last year.”
The trial of Hall coincides with several other prosecutions of law enforcement officers in the Bay Area. They include three for alleged excessive force in San Francisco, and one in Alameda County for a fatal shooting at a San Leandro Walmart. Hall’s case will proceed in August.