LA County Cop Charged w/Manslaughter After Fatally Shooting Unarmed Latino Man who Posed No Threat - Cop Opened Fire into a Car Slowly Moving Away From Him

From [HERE] and [HERE] For the first time in nearly two decades, a Los Angeles County law enforcement official has been ordered to stand trial for a fatal shooting.

Sheriff’s Deputy Luke Liu is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the Feb. 24, 2016, shooting death of Francisco Garcia at a Norwalk gas station.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was ordered Friday to stand trial on a voluntary manslaughter charge stemming from the fatal on-duty shooting of a man in Norwalk.

After a hearing that stretched over portions of three days, Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor denied the defense’s motion to dismiss the case against Luke Liu, 40, who was charged last December with the Feb. 24, 2016, shooting of 26-year-old Francisco Garcia at a gas station in the 10900 block of Alondra Boulevard.

Liu was on patrol when he spotted a potentially stolen vehicle at the gas station and pulled up behind it, according to prosecutors. [in support of the authoritarian state white media rarely explains facts leading up to a 4th Amendment intrusion]

The sheriff’s deputy walked up to the driver’s side door, then walked to the rear of the car, and when he returned to the driver’s side door, Garcia began to drive away at about 5 mph, prosecutors said.

Liu allegedly drew his 9 mm gun, ran alongside the car and fired seven shots within 20 seconds of first approaching the vehicle.

The cop was never in any imminent danger because the car was not headed towards him as Garcia drove away from him at a slow speed.

Garcia was hit by four of the rounds — two to the lower back and once each to the shoulder area and knee — and died at a hospital.

When Liu asked Garcia whether the vehicle belonged to him, Garcia responded, “It’s none of your business,” according to a sheriff’s report.

Court documents indicate Liu stood near the driver’s door before walking to the rear of the car. As Liu returned to the front of the car, Garcia, 26, began slowly driving away at approximately 5 mph. Liu said he saw Garcia’s right hand reaching into the back seat and feared he was grabbing a firearm, according to sheriff’s records.

Prosecutors say that as Garcia pulled away, the car struck Liu along both knees. The deputy drew his service weapon, ran alongside the vehicle and fired seven shots at Garcia, who was struck four times.

Liu’s attorney, Michael D. Schwartz, told the judge that he did not believe there was sufficient evidence to prove that the shooting was unlawful.

Deputy District Attorney Oscar Plascencia countered that Garcia’s killing was “completely unnecessary” and that the unarmed man should have never been shot. He told the judge that there were “many, many other options” of how Liu could have reacted when Garcia tried to drive away.

The judge said he paid “extreme attention to the video evidence,” referring to surveillance video that partly captured the shooting. He also noted that the standard of proof required for the hearing is lower than that required at trial.

Sheriff’s officials said shortly after the shooting that the deputy was in fear for his life. They said then that the deputy suffered minor injuries when he was struck by the vehicle.

The judge ordered Liu, who is free on a $1.1 million bond, to return to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse June 14 for arraignment.

He could face up to 21 years in state prison if convicted of the charge, which includes an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm.

Liu, a more than 10-year veteran who was assigned to the sheriff’s Cerritos station, was placed on administrative leave last December, according to the sheriff’s department. His current status with the department was not immediately available.

Los Angeles county agreed last year to pay Garcia’s family $1.75 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit.

In a written statement released shortly after the criminal case was filed against Liu last Dec. 11, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said, “We believe the officer’s use of deadly force was unjustified and unreasonable under the circumstances.”

The district attorney has come under fire recently from some Southland civil-rights leaders for failing to prosecute police officers and sheriff’s deputies for on-duty shootings.

The last Los Angeles County law enforcement officer to be prosecuted for an on-duty shooting was Los Angeles Police Department Officer Ronald Orosco, according to the Los Angeles Times. Orosco was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading no contest to a felony count of shooting into a motor vehicle, wounding a man who survived being struck in the back in June 2000.