Ex-Sonoma County deputy asks judge to keep evidence against him secret
Charles Blount, self-surrendered on involuntary manslaughter charges following the death of David Ward. Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
A former California sheriff’s deputy indicted by a grand jury on a charge of felony involuntary manslaughter in the death of a man after a high-speed chase asked a judge to keep secret the evidence against him.
The grand jury decided in October that former Sonoma County deputy Charles Blount should stand trial in the 2019 death of David Ward, who died in a struggle with Blount after the chase. Grand jury proceedings are held outside the public view.
Blount’s attorney Harry Stern filed a motion asking Judge Robert LaForge to delay releasing a transcript of the proceedings until the trial concludes, arguing it could taint the views of potential jurors.
"This case, at this time, presents a recipe for such heightened news coverage and widespread emotional reaction to it, such that the Court must take unusual measures to ensure that Mr. Blount receives a fair trial," Stern said in the motion filed in Sonoma County Superior Court.
Rules call for the 1,500-page transcript to be made public Monday, 10 days after the defense has received the documents, court officials said. But that could be delayed, with LaForge expected to consider Blount’s motion on Tuesday.
District Attorney Jill Ravitch’s office declined to comment on the transcripts.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies stop Petaluma man in fatal car mix-up
Sonoma County Sheriff body camera video shows deputy Charlie Blount and Jason Little trying to get David Ward of Petaluma out of his Honda. They thought he stole it. Turns out, it was his car. Ward died after his head was slammed into his car and he was Tased multiple times and put into a neck hold.
Authorities say Ward led deputies on the high-speed chase on Nov. 27, 2019, that ended at a dead-end road near his home in the rural Sebastopol area. The chase began when a law enforcement officer spotted Ward in his car, which had been reported as stolen then later retrieved. It’s unclear why Ward initially fled when the deputy tried to pull him over.
When the car came to a stop, Ward appeared confused and did not comply with a flurry of orders to keep his hands up and unlock the vehicle, according to body camera video provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
The video footage shows Blount then reached through an open window, wrapped his arm around Ward’s neck and, after a struggle, smashed Ward’s head against the side of the car as another deputy shocked him with a Taser. Ward lost consciousness and died.
Stern said in the motion that Blount did not intentionally cause Ward's death and that the 52-year-old man "was already on the brink of death with advanced cardiopulmonary disease, and from long-term as well as acute heavy methamphetamine abuse, among other ailments."
Sealing records and preventing the public from understanding issues in cases of high public concern should not be the answer to concerns about a fair and impartial jury, according to Glen Smith, litigation director with the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes government transparency.
"The way you protect fair trial rights is through jury selection, through the questionnaires and the ability to remove jurors that you think might be biased," Smith said. "That’s a better solution than just saying, ’You can’t see any part of this.’"