A California appeals court has paved the way for a wrongful-death trial in the case of a man shot and killed by an Anaheim police officer in 2009.

Appellate justices on Tuesday said the family of Adolf Anthony Sanchez Gonzalez can pursue the lawsuit against the city after a federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s ruling.

Anaheim spokeswoman Erin Ryan said the case “shows the complexity and difficulty of situations our officers face. … For all involved, we would have like to have seen this matter brought to a close as several previous courts have determined.”

Gonzalez was shot and killed on Sept. 25, 2009 by Anaheim Officer Daron Wyatt, who has since become a sergeant and is now the city’s police spokesman.

Wyatt and Officer Matthew Ellis stopped Gonzalez, court records say, driving a Mazda minivan around 2 a.m. after they saw him weaving within his lane near Santa Ana and Bond streets.

As Ellis and Wyatt approached the van, Wyatt thought he saw Gonzalez reach for something between the front seats, the sergeant would say. He warned Gonzalez that he would shoot if he reached down again.

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Wyatt said he saw Gonzalez reach down with his left hand. He then got into the passenger side and began punching Gonzalez in the head.

In the struggle, the officers would say, Gonzalez managed to shift the van into drive. Ellis stepped away as the van began moving with Wyatt still inside.

Wyatt said Gonzalez then “stomped” the accelerator: He yelled at Gonzalez to stop the car and tried to turn off the ignition or shift the transmission, but Gonzalez swatted his hand away.

“Unable to stop or gain control of the car, Wyatt drew his weapon and shot Gonzalez in the head, killing him,” according to court records. “He shot from a distance of less than six inches. The minivan hit a parked car and came to a stop.”

His family, represented by attorneys Dale Galipo and Melanie Partow, maintain that officers had no legal reason to pull Gonzalez over.

Partow on Thursday said Wyatt used excessive force when he climbed into the van, punched Gonzalez in the head and then shot him at “point-blank range.” Gonzalez was not armed.

A federal judge in Los Angeles dismissed the case, concluding the officers did not use excessive force. A panel of federal justices in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal later upheld the ruling.

But in a rare move, the full 9th Circuit Court agreed to review the case and reversed its own panel’s ruling. The court said it found some inconsistencies in Wyatt’s testimony.

“Wyatt specifically testified that the minivan ‘violently accelerated,’ ” the ruling says. “But that is not entirely consistent with Wyatt’s other testimony. His story was that the minivan moved 50 feet in five to 10 seconds but was going 50 miles per hour when he shot. That combination of facts appears to be physically impossible.”

“We do not hold that a reasonable jury must find in favor of (excessive force), only that it could.”

A second appeal, meanwhile, was working its way through state court. The California Court of Appeals initially dismissed the case, but the family filed a new lawsuit in 2015 asking that the earlier state court decision be vacated in light of the federal appeals court decision.

On Tuesday, the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed, acknowledging “highly unusual, even extraordinary” circumstances of the case.

Partow said her firm is now deciding whether to pursue the case in federal or state court.