Jury awards $2 million to family of Azusa man shot in back by deputy

“The jury rejected the defense that the deputy feared for his life from a man with a knife. Gutierrez, 31, was shot several times by Deputy David Salazar on Oct. 2, 2009, as the deputy investigated possible break-ins to vehicles involving two suspects. Gutierrez died at the scene. ‘He was shot in the back,’ said Dale Galipo, the family’s lawyer. ‘But just as importantly, we were able to show to jurors that the deputy wasn’t near him. The blood trail is 26 feet long. He was running away, not toward, the deputy when he was shot.’ The deputy alleged that Gutierrez was armed with a knife, but Galipo said his fingerprints were never found on the weapon.”

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-deputy-jury-20131001,0,2271956.story