Civil trial begins against Yolo deputies who shot Luis Gutierrez: Witnesses say Police Shot Unarmed Latino Man in the Back

From [HERE] The civil trial against Yolo County and three deputies who shot and killed a Woodland man more than three years ago is slated to begin Wednesday morning. The trial will begin at 9:15 a.m. inside the Federal Courthouse at Fifth and "I" Streets in Sacramento.

Law enforcement investigators and federal, state and county prosecutors have all cleared the shooters, Sgt. Dale Johnson, head of the Yolo County Gang Task Force, and Deputy Hernan Oviedo, of criminal culpability in the killing of Luis Gutierrez, then 26, as he walked home from the Woodland DMV along the Gum Avenue overpass. Gutierrez was allegedly unknown to the deputies and had no criminal record other than traffic-related violations.

Deputies claim Gutierrez had a knife, but witnesses didn't see one and will testify to that at the civil trial this week. Gutierrez reportedly ran for his life because the unidentified deputies - in plainclothes and driving cars that had unmarked, blacked-out windows - chased him. The wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in 2010 by Gutierrez's parents.Jury members will decide whether or not the two deputies who fatally shot Gutierrez on April 30, 2009 were justified in killing him.