By Frank Stoltze

A Los Angeles jury Friday acquitted L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Luke Liu of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of an unarmed motorist at a Norwalk gas station in 2016.

The prosecution of Liu was highly unusual. At the time he was charged in 2018, Liu was the first law enforcement officer in L.A. County since 2000 to face prosecution in connection with an on-duty shooting. Two more have since been charged.

Some considered the case to be a litmus test of how L.A. juries consider use of force by law enforcement in an era when police are under greater scrutiny. Liu did not testify during the trial. His attorney called just one witness — a use-of-force expert who said the shooting was justified to counter a prosecution expert who said it was not.

The Case Against Liu

The case stemmed from Liu’s killing of Francisco Garcia, 26. The deputy approached Garcia’s car at the gas pump of a 7-Eleven store after determining the vehicle was stolen.

Two security cameras atop the store captured parts of the shooting and were repeatedly played by both prosecutors and Liu defense attorneys during the nine-day trial.

It showed Liu approaching the driver’s side window and Garcia slowly driving away — prosecutors said at speed that was no more than 5 mph.

Prosecutors contended that the videos showed that Liu ran alongside the car and “fired wildly” into it. “He chased him as he was driving away towards the exit,” said Deputy District Attorney Chris Baker of Liu’s actions.

Liu fired seven shots, hitting Garcia four times. Garcia crashed into a sign about 20 feet away.

Baker pointed out that Sheriff’s Department policy prohibits deputies from shooting at moving cars. Under the policy, “firearms shall not be discharged at a stationary or moving vehicle” or its occupants unless deputies are being threatened with a gun or some other “deadly force by means other than the moving vehicle.”

“Francisco Garcia should not have stolen the car. He should not have tried to flee,” Baker told the jury. “But he didn’t deserve to die for it.”

The Defense

Schwartz, who has represented dozens of law enforcement officers involved in shootings, urged the jury to look at the videos differently. While one appears to show Liu chasing after Garcia’s car, the other shows him behind the gas pump, he said

“He only fired [from] the pump … not past the pump,” Schwartz said. One video appears to show Liu with his arm extended in a shooting position away from the pump. Schwartz said it’s not Liu’s extended arm, it’s part of the car window seen on the video.

Schwartz also said the deputy fired after the car struck his knees and because he believed Garcia was reaching for a gun in the backseat.

There was no gun, but legally that doesn’t matter.

Police are allowed to use deadly force if they have a reasonable belief someone poses a threat of great injury or death to them or someone else. Officers must consider the severity of the crime while juries must take into account that officers are forced to make split-second decisions.

Schwartz pointed out officers are not required to see a gun before they shoot — the defense police use in almost all shootings of unarmed people. “If you wait to see a weapon, you’re already dead,” he said.

Schwartz said Liu had been working a double shift since 5 a.m. and was keenly aware that a gang homicide had taken place the night before at the same gas station. The deputy was unsure whether Garcia was a member of the gang who was coming back “to pay homage to his brethren or get revenge,” Schwartz said.

The acquittal was another major victory for Schwartz, who is one of the best known police defense attorneys in the country and a go-to lawyer for sworn officers in Southern California.

Outside the downtown L.A. courthouse, Liu and his two attorneys were surrounded by a half-dozen deputies as they climbed into an unmarked sheriff’s SUV with dark tinted windows and drove away, another unmarked sheriff’s vehicle leading them. Liu, through his attorney, declined to comment.