ANAHEIM – A federal jury has determined that an Anaheim officer used excessive force in a 2012 police shooting that helped spark unrest and riots in the city.

Jurors on Thursday, after a little more than a day of deliberations, found in a civil case seeking monetary damages that Anaheim Officer Nick Bennallack used excessive force when he shot and killed Manuel Diaz, 25, during a short foot chase.

In 2013, Genevieve Huizar, the mother of Manuel Diaz, an unarmed man killed by Anaheim police July 21, 2012, cradles his urn of ashes that she keeps at her Santa Ana home. Hulzar made an emotional plea for peace after her son’s death sparked riots and protests. (Mindy Schauer, Staff File)

A photo of 25-year-old Manuel Angel Diaz of Santa Ana was left at the shrine created for him. ( Mindy Schauer, Staff File)

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Activists shout at a police officer inside the Anaheim Police Department where a press conference took place in response to the officer involved shooting of Manuel Diaz in 2012. (Mindy Schauer, Staff File)

The sun rises over the shrine on Anna Drive in Anaheim, created for Manuel Diaz, who was shot and killed by police in 2012. (Mindy Schauer, Staff File)

In 2012,Genevieve Huizar, third from left, the mother of Manuel Diaz, who was shot to death by Anaheim police, breaks down after pleading for a stop to the violence and says she doesn’t want that to be her son’s legacy after a news conference in Santa Ana on July 25, 2012. Far left is her daughter, Correna Chavez. Her news conference followed a fourth day of violent protests over the police shooting of Manuel Diaz. (AP File Photo/Damian Dovarganes)



Demonstrators protest the Anaheim Police Department’s shooting of Manuel Diaz in 2012. (Paul Herbert, File)

Genevieive Huizar, mother of Manuel Angel Diaz who was fatally shot by police in 2012, at the memorial erected for her son at the site of the shooting on N. Anna Drive in 2012. (Ana Venegas, Staff File)

A memorial in honor of Manuel Diaz displays his photo in 2013 on Anna Dr. in Anaheim. (Rose Palmisano, Staff File)

In 2012, Genevieve Huizar, center, mother of Manuel Angel Diaz, 25, who was shot and killed by Anaheim police, is surrounded by family and friends as she grieves during a march on N. Anna Dr. to show their outrage over the shooting death of Diaz. (FILE: Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A police officer tells a photographer to stay back as a line of officers in riot gear move through downtown Anaheim in 2012. (Kevin Warn, File photo)



Over 100 family and friends of Manuel Angel Diaz march down Anna Drive in Anaheim in 2012 to show their outrage over the shooting death of Diaz by Anaheim police. (Leonard Ortiz, Staff File)

Dale Galipo, who represents Diaz’s mother, Genevieve Huizar, had told jurors during closing statements last week that Bennallack overreacted by shooting an unarmed Diaz.

“She is very happy and grateful to the jury members,” Galipo said on Thursday morning of Huizar’s reaction to the verdict. “She has been looking for some justice and closure for five years, and has finally found it.”

Added Humberto Guizar, another attorney representing the Diaz family: “There was no other way it could go, at the end of the day. How do you justify shooting someone who is unarmed in the back?”

Bennallack testified that the chase began after he and a partner spotted Diaz leaning into a car in an alley on Anna Drive. The officers suspected that Diaz was taking part in a drug deal.

The officers got out of their unmarked car and approached Diaz, who ran into the adjacent apartment complex. The officers ran after him, Bennallack in the lead.

Bennallack said that Diaz, during the eight- to 10-second chase, ignored commands to stop, was reaching with both arms to his waistband, was glancing back at the officer during the pursuit and was turning toward him when he opened fire.

Bennallack testified that during the chase’s final seconds, after he and Diaz turned a corner into the courtyard facing Anna Drive, the officer believed he saw Diaz pull something out of the front of his waistband and turn toward him.

Bennallack fired two shots, hitting Diaz in the right buttocks and the back-right side of his head. As he fired the shots, the officer testified that he saw something dark going over a nearby fence, which he believed was a weapon thrown by Diaz.

No weapon was ever recovered. A cell phone was found nearby, but Bennallack said that wasn’t the item he believed Diaz had thrown.

Bennallack acknowledged during his testimony that he “didn’t see (Diaz’s) hands and didn’t want to wait to see his hands, because I believe for 100 percent certainty he had a firearm.”

Bennallack said he recalled Diaz turning toward his left. But the officer’s partner, as well as witnesses and forensic evidence, indicated that Diaz actually turned to his right.

A neighbor who witnessed the shooting testified that Diaz had one hand on a fence before the officer shot him, with his other hand holding onto his pants.

Attorneys for the city told jurors that the shooting wouldn’t have happened if Diaz had cooperated with officers rather than running.

“We acknowledge the jury’s decision and thank jurors for their time and consideration,” said Mike Lyster, the city of Anaheim’s spokesman, in a statement released following the civil verdict. “This case shows the difficulty and complexity of situations our police face, and we believe they acted reasonably.

“Regardless, any loss of life in Anaheim is tragic, and our hearts go out to the family and all involved.”

The death of Diaz following a series of other officer-involved shootings helped touch off days of unrest and protests in Anaheim, culminating with a riot in the city’s downtown area.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office cleared Bennallack of criminal wrongdoing. Bennallack remains an active-duty officer in Anaheim.

In 2014, a different federal jury rejected the excessive-force claim. That verdict was thrown out by a federal appeals court, which described the earlier trial as a “runaway case” in which evidence of Diaz’s gang background and drug ties were improperly discussed.

Throughout last week’s trial, attorneys for the city during breaks when the jury was not present expressed frustration at U.S. District Judge James V. Selna for limiting how much information they could present on the background of Anna Drive, a neighborhood claimed by the city’s most-active street gang.

On Thursday afternoon, the focus of the trial shifted to potential monetary damages.

Jurors for the first time in the trial were told that Diaz was a gang member and a methamphetamine user.

Steven Rothans, an attorney representing the city of Anaheim, also told jurors that starting at the age of 17, Diaz had spent nearly four years behind bars in state prison and local lockup.

Huizar, during often emotional testimony, said that despite the challenges, she and her son remained close throughout his life. She described him as being able to “light up a room” with his cheerful demeanor.

Huizar broke into tears when her attorney showed the jury a school project in which Diaz had described her as his favorite family member. In the project, Diaz wrote that his mother at times had worked two jobs, seven days a week, while raising Diaz and his three sisters.

Huizar also recalled happier times, as her attorney showed jurors photos of Diaz helping his mother down the aisle on her wedding day, taking a blindfold off of her as she entered a surprise party on her 50th birthday, and posing at one of his varsity football games.

But Huizar, during cross-examination from the city’s attorney, also acknowledged her son’s tattoos, including the name of his street gang on his hands.

Weeks before the shooting, Diaz had gotten into a heated argument with a sister at his mother’s Santa Ana home. After that fight, Huizar had told Diaz to get in her car, had driven him to Anna Drive and had dropped him off. For at least part of the last few week’s of his life, Diaz lived on the streets.

“He was a young man, making decisions as a young man,” Huizar testified. “They weren’t always the right decisions, but he was a young man.”

Huizar said she has learned to cope with her loss, partly through reaching out to other mothers whose sons were killed in officer-involved shootings. But she also testified that she never expects to be the same as she was prior to her son’s death.

“I try to deal with daily life, going to work and being with my family,” Huizar testified. “But there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my son. I miss his smile, his laughter, his hugs. … There are just no words to tell you how much I miss my son.”

Galipo has not yet indicated how much money he is seeking for the family from the city and the officer. His is expected to do so during closing arguments on Friday morning, Nov. 3, with jurors expected to begin deliberations regarding potential monetary damages afterward.

Video: What has changed in Anaheim since the 2012 riots?

