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Judge dismisses manslaughter charges against 2 of 3 Alameda officers in Mario Gonzalez death
In a major blow to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, a judge on Monday dismissed charges against two of three Alameda police officers charged with the involuntary manslaughter of Mario Gonzalez because of a prosecutorial paperwork and timing technicality.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - Alameda County prosecutors have dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against Alameda police officer Eric McKinley in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez, the District Attorney's office announced.
The dismissal came Friday after what were described as inconsistencies in testimony from Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathology expert for the family of Gonzalez, the District Attorney's office said in a press release issued Friday.
This means that the entire case against three officers originally charged by recalled DA Pamela Price has now fallen apart. Price missed the deadline to charge the two other officers with involuntary manslaughter, and Judge Scott Patton ruled that Cameron Leahy and James Fisher no longer face allegations that they were criminally responsible for the 26-year-old Oakland man’s death.
Gonzalez died on April 19, 2021, while being detained by McKinley and two other officers, James Fisher and Cameron Leahy after a disturbance call. He was restrained face-down and in handcuffs at the time, the press release further noted.
Prosecutors previously dismissed charges against Fisher and Leahy, leaving McKinley as the sole defendant.
Omalu, the former chief forensic pathologist for San Joaquin County, who performed a second autopsy for Gonzalez's family, concluded the cause of death was "restraint asphyxiation," conflicting with the Alameda County Coroner's finding of "toxic effects of methamphetamine," prosecutors said.
Omalu recently filed a request to avoid testifying in court and submitted a statement under oath that conflicted with his earlier testimony in the civil case, the DA's office said. Prosecutors said the inconsistencies prevented them from proving McKinley's role beyond a reasonable doubt.
In November, Omalu issued a statement saying that he had performed the second autopsy strictly for the purpose of the civil court litigation matter, procedures and settlements and if he had been informed that his second autopsy would or could be used for criminal prosecution of a police officer, he would not have performed the autopsy.
In his statement, Omalu said that after receiving a subpoena from the Alameda County DA to testify, he voluntarily provided his entire work folder on the second autopsy he performed to the DA.
"This is within the generally accepted principles and standards of practice of medicine, whereby a physician can provide testimony in the court of law using the work products of another physician who is not available for whatever reason," Omalu said. Omalu said his testimony "is merely redundant of the information contained in both autopsy reports."