eddie f. During Gonzalez’s one-week trial, prosecutors portrayed the former Long Beach school official as an ambitious policeman who overreacted to a small fight between girls and turned it into a deadly situation.
Attorneys for Gonzalez — who was defending him for shooting 18-year-old Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez in the back of the head as she fled the scene — called the 2021 killing a “tragedy, but not a crime.”
But jurors tasked with deciding Gonzalez’s fate deadlocked Tuesday, divided not by the narratives of the duel presented in court but over whether the defendant was guilty of murder or manslaughter.
The jury had the option of convicting him on a lesser charge if they determined that he had killed Rodriguez in an act legally defined as “perfect self-defense.” Seven jurors on Tuesday said they were prepared to convict Gonzalez, 51, of murder, while five said they might only find him guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
Jurors were asked Monday if they could consider the involuntary manslaughter charge, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Gall said they could not.
Prosecutors may still choose to retry the case.
“Although we are disappointed that the jury did not reach a verdict, we will carefully review the proceedings and consider our options moving forward,” Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in a statement. “Our commitment to seeking justice for the victims and their families remains steadfast.”
on the day of Shooting in September 2021, Gonzalez was responding to a report of a fight between Rodriguez and a 15-year-old girl outside Millikan High School. The officer threatened to pepper-spray both girls, and after the fighting parties were separated, Rodriguez ran back to her boyfriend’s car.
Gonzalez ordered them to stop and ran alongside the car, but the vehicle’s tires began to explode as it sped away from the officer, according to video from the scene. Gonzalez fired two shots at the car, one hitting Rodriguez in the head while he was apparently standing behind the vehicle. She suffered severe brain damage and was taken off life support a week later, leaving behind a 5-month-old son.
“This defendant responded to the youth’s defiance with deadly force,” L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Lee Orchiola said in his closing argument. “He was the adult in this situation. He was considered responsible. The one who is taking the right decisions.”
Prosecutors said several of their witnesses, including a girl who filmed the fatal encounter, could have been harmed by Gonzalez’s shots. Orchiola said Gonzalez should have simply taken a report and written down the license plate of the vehicle so that Long Beach police could make an arrest later.
Instead, prosecutors said, Gonzalez acted recklessly and responded to a threat that did not exist.
“With the first shot he was in no danger at all and he fired at very close range,” Orchiola said. “Second shot, she’s even further out of danger, she’s driving the car and he shoots again.”
Video of the shooting sparked widespread outrage and protests. Long Beach school officials moved immediately to fire Gonzalez, and then-Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia asked Gascón to immediately file charges against the officer.
Defense attorney Michael Schwartz argued that the entire incident lasted less than two seconds, which was too short to create the intent necessary to validate a murder charge for Gonzalez.
While the video clearly shows Gonzalez firing from behind the car, Schwartz told jurors they had to put themselves in the officer’s shoes and use still frame images and slow motion to evaluate Gonzalez’s actions. Criticized prosecutors for using the footage. Testimony at the trial revealed that only .3 seconds had passed between the two gunshots, and Schwartz argued that his client was so close to the car that he had a reasonable belief that he might be attacked.
“It didn’t happen in slow motion,” Schwartz said. “Life doesn’t happen in slow motion.”
On Tuesday, Schwartz said it was time for the district attorney’s office to let the case go.
“At this point, a jury of 12 people heard all the evidence and found not guilty,” he said. “It has been 2.5 years since the incident, the civil case has been resolved. “We hope Mr. Gascón will allow everyone to move forward.”
Last year, Long Beach Unified School District Settled a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Rodriguez’s family for $13 million.
After spending decades as a cable repairman, Gonzalez began working in law enforcement as a reserve Orange County deputy in 2015, his family said in court filings. He was hired by both the Los Alamitos and Sierra Madre police departments in 2019, but left both jobs within a few months. Officials of both departments will not tell why this is so.
Gonzalez did not testify at trial, so prosecutors could not inquire about his law enforcement history before starting as a Long Beach school security officer.
