Alameda officers charged in Mario Gonzalez death seek to dismiss on technicality
Alameda police officers arrive after Mario Gonzalez suffers medical distress after police kneel on his back to restrain him. April 19, 2021
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The three Alameda police officers charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Mario Gonzalez are seeking to dismiss the criminal case against them because of a technical error involving filing the proper paperwork on time, according to their lawyers.
Lawyers who represent officers Cameron Leahy, James Fisher and Eric McKinley, filed a motion to dismiss on Sept. 6 in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that while the felony charges were filed against their clients within the three-year statute of limitations, the necessary followup documents – either a probable cause statement or an arrest warrant – were not.
"The District Attorney's error is fatal," the lawyers wrote.
In an interview on Thursday, Leahy's attorney, Alison Berry Wilkinson, said: "It's just such a basic step."
She said she and the other attorneys, Julia Fox and James Shore, noticed something was "weird" at a court hearing where a deputy district attorney asked the judge to sign a declaration, which is not something that judges do: they issue orders.
"It was out of the ordinary," Wilkinson said. "It was at that point we realized that they made a mistake and were trying to cover it up."
The statute of limitations on charging the officers for the April 19, 2021, death of Gonzalez expired at midnight on April 18, 2024.
Since the proper documents were not filed on time, the police attorneys argued, the case against the three officers "must, therefore, be dismissed in their entirety."
In a statement on Thursday, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price's office said it "cannot comment on active cases before the court." The DA's counter-motion is due Friday.
Judge Scott Patton will hear the arguments on Sept. 20, when supporters of the late Gonzalez plan to rally in front of the Oakland courthouse, urging the judge to move forward with charges against the officers.
Officers appear in court in Alameda police in-custody death of Mario Gonzalez
Police officers James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinley made their first court appearance Friday on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Mario Gonzalez in Alameda.
The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report the motion to dismiss.
Gonzalez died in a high-profile struggle with the three police officers, who were seen on body camera video retraining the 26-year-old Oakland man after neighbors had called to say he was acting erratically.
Gonzalez didn't provide ID to the officers when they asked, which is what prompted the officers to pin him on his stomach. He died after being restrained in a prone position for several minutes. Last year, his son was awarded an $11-million settlement.
In April 2022, Nancy O'Malley, the prior Alameda County District Attorney, declined to charge the officers, saying their conduct was reasonable.
Then, in April of this year, DA Price – who campaigned on holding police officers accountable – charged the three officers with involuntary manslaughter charges.
In August, the officers did not enter a plea, but Wilkson said they plan to plead not guilty on Oct. 11 if the charges are not dismissed before then.
All of them are on paid leave pending the outcome of the criminal case.
Leahy and McKinley are still with Alameda police. Fisher now works for the Contra Costa County Sheriff.