Segura Mercado SA 20-002 FINAL August 6 2020_Redacted

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7 MERCADO’S PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY Mercado had no criminal history. STANDARD LEGAL PRINCIPLES IN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING CASES Possible criminal charges against an officer involved in a fatal shooting include murder [Penal Code Section 187]; manslaughter [Penal Code Section 192]; assault with a deadly weapon [Penal Code Section 245]; and assault by a police officer [Penal Code Section 149]. In order to convict an officer of any of these charges, however, it would be necessary to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that no legal justifications existed for the officer’s actions. (People v. Adrian (1982) 135 Cal.App.3d 335, 340-342.) Several such justifications may apply in any given case and they are set forth in Penal Code Sections 196, 197 and 835a. Penal Code Section 196 provides that use of deadly force by a public officer is justifiable when done in compliance with California Penal Code section 835a. California Penal Code Section 197 provides that the use of deadly force by any person is justifiable when used in self-defense or in defense of others. Penal Code Section 835a allows a police officer to use reasonable force when necessary in the defense of human life. The decision to use force shall be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable officer in the same situation, based on the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time, rather than with the benefit of hindsight. The totality of the circumstances shall be taken into account when officers are forced to make quick judgments about using force. Penal Code Section 835a further states that a peace officer is justified in using deadly force when the officer reasonably believes that such force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person. Deadly force may also be used to apprehend a fleeing person for any felony that threatened or resulted in death or serious bodily injury, if the officer reasonably believed that person will cause death or serious bodily injury if not immediately apprehended. Consistent with existing law, Penal Code section 835a maintains the principle that a police officer, acting in compliance under this section, who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested, nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by the use of objectively reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance. Penal Code Section 835a also requires that, prior to the use of deadly force, the officers make reasonable efforts to identify themselves and warn that deadly force may be used, when feasible, unless the officer reasonably believes the person is already aware of those facts. In determining whether deadly force is necessary, officers shall evaluate the circumstances of each situation independently, and use other available resources and techniques if reasonably safe and feasible to do so. In addition, Penal Code section 834a requires that if a person has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable care, should have knowledge, that he is being arrested by a peace officer, that person must refrain from using force or any weapon to resist such arrest. Similarly, the relevant Criminal Jury Instruction as written by the Judicial Council of California and set forth in CALCRIM 3470 permits a person being assaulted to defend himself/herself from attack if, as a reasonable person, he/she had grounds for believing and did believe that bodily injury was about to be inflicted upon him/her or upon another person. In doing so, such person may immediately use all force and means which he/she believes to be reasonably necessary and which would appear to a reasonable person, in the same or similar circumstances, to be necessary to defend against that danger and to prevent the injury which appears to be imminent. The law, as detailed in CALCRIM 3470, and in well-settled case law therefore permits a person, if confronted by the appearance of danger which arouses in his/her mind, as a reasonable person,