Department of Justice Presents Results of San Diego County Officer-Involved Shooting

Thursday, July 12, 2007
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

SAN DIEGO -- The California Department of Justice today presented its evaluation of the fifth and final case reviewed by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office involving an officer-involved shooting in the Vista area. In each of these five cases the San Diego District Attorney’s Office concluded the shootings were justified and declined to prosecute.

The Department of Justice released its findings on four of these cases in May, 2007 and determined that the involved deputies acted without discriminatory animus and justifiably used deadly force either in self defense of in defense of others. In this final case, the July 29, 2005 shooting of Jorge Ramirez by Deputy Mark Ritchie, the Department of Justice finds that the District Attorney’s decision not to prosecute was reasonable and not an abuse of her discretion.

In February of this year, after the District Attorney declined prosecution in these cases, the Coalition for Justice and El Grupo asked the Department of Justice to review the District Attorney’s decision and the department agreed to do so. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Sheriff William Kolender cooperated fully with the Department of Justice’s review.

A case summary and facts concerning the shooting and conclusions of the District Attorney and Department of Justice are discussed in the attached memorandum.

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