Justice Department review of Andy Lopez shooting renews debate

Community reaction was divided Thursday to a federal review that found a Sonoma County deputy sheriff did not breach civil rights laws in the death of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, revealing the deep fissures that remain nearly two years after the shooting.

Law enforcement leaders said the Justice Department findings reaffirmed the integrity of local reviews that found Deputy Erick Gelhaus did not violate criminal laws or Sheriff’s Office policies.

Community activists, who demanded changes in police practices following the 2013 shooting, said the federal review displays the difficulty of prosecuting law enforcement officers involved in civilian deaths.

The U.S. Justice Department focus was narrow, reviewing “this particular deputy and this particular incident” under federal laws that protect people subjected to “willfully used excessive force,” Justice Department spokesman Abraham Simmons said Thursday. No violations were found.

An attorney for the Lopez family said the federal findings will have no bearing on a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the boy’s parents against Gelhaus and the county, which is scheduled to go to trial in April 2016. The Justice Department reached its conclusion because prosecutors “didn’t believe they could meet the very high level of proof for a federal prosecution,” said Arnoldo Casillas, who is representing the Lopez family.

“Andy and his mother and father will have their day in court, and that day in court is going to come in April of 2016 where we are going to present all of the true facts in front of a jury in Oakland,” Casillas said.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said she gave the FBI the final reports and related documents from her office’s criminal investigation into the shooting, but had no other involvement in the federal case.

Ravitch expressed hope that the conclusion of the federal review would help the community focus on a series of initiatives launched since Lopez’s death to address the community’s confidence in law enforcement.

“There are a lot of positives that are coming out of a tragic situation and it’s a dialogue that will make this a better, healthier safer place to live,” Ravitch said, noting the adoption of body cameras in law enforcement agencies throughout the county and a renewed commitment to community-oriented policing.

The outcome of the federal investigation was a foregone conclusion and a disappointment to some activists in Sonoma County who have been engaged in developing plans to improve police-community relations in the two years since Lopez died.

“I’m extremely disappointed and sad for the Lopez family,” said Santa Rosa resident Caroline Bañuelos, who chaired the county-appointed Community and Local Law Enforcement Task Force formed after Lopez’s death. The group was charged with listening to public complaints about police practices and creating an action plan to address a deep community rift with law enforcement, especially in the county’s immigrant and minority communities.

She said the decision called into question what evidence the FBI actually analyzed. Bañuelos described Gelhaus’ actions as “a mistake” but said the lack of repercussions for that mistake sent the message that the deputy’s life was worth more than Lopez’s.

“For communities of color, that’s not acceptable. We have to keep fighting, we have to keep working for change,” she said, emphasizing she was speaking for herself and not the task force.

Laws offer extensive legal protections to peace officers acting on the job, and those laws are a structural barrier that “prevent the finding of any wrongdoing,” said Robert Edmonds, a police accountability activist from Sebastopol who served as vice chair of the task force.

“After all this work we’ve gone through, I see that there isn’t a lot that can be done in the current context,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds and Bañuelos have urged the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to demand state lawmakers change laws, including the Peace Officers Bill of Rights, that inhibit oversight and transparency.

“All of those laws are designed to avoid any commission of wrongdoing. It leaves broad discretion on the part of any peace officer,” Edmonds said.

On Oct. 22, 2013, Lopez was walking down Moorland Avenue on the outskirts of Santa Rosa, carrying an Airsoft BB gun designed to look like an AK-47 rifle, when he was shot by Gelhaus. Gelhaus told investigators he mistook the boy’s gun for a real weapon. He had ordered the boy to drop the gun, but instead the teen began turning toward him, raising the barrel.

While Gelhaus has been cleared of any wrongdoing in reviews conducted by the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney and Justice Department, the latest finding left some members of the community feeling that it was another lost opportunity to provide a sense of justice after Lopez’s death.