Testimony begins for sheriff’s deputy accused in Modesto woman’s shooting death

San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Xapuri Villapudua on Tuesday watched video footage from a Ripon Police Department dashboard camera that captured Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Wall shooting Modesto resident Evin Olsen Yadegar during a pursuit two years ago in Ripon.

Wall is accused of voluntary manslaughter in Yadegar’s death. Wall’s preliminary hearing — to determine whether there’s enough evidence for the deputy to stand trial — began Tuesday morning with testimony from Mark Reynolds, an investigator with the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.

Video footage from a patrol car’s dashboard camera shows Yadegar backing up her car a few feet before moving forward to go around a Stanislaus County sheriff’s vehicle that had blocked her. She was shot by Wall not as she’s backing up, but as she’s moving forward again.

Reynolds said the dashboard camera that captured Wall firing his gun at Yadegar had the most comprehensive view of the deadly shooting. He said the Stanislaus sheriff’s vehicles at the scene did not have cameras, and the sheriff’s officials did not have body-worn cameras.

Reynolds questioned the Stanislaus sheriff’s officials who were at the scene of the shooting, including Wall. The investigator said he questioned Wall and asked the deputy to provide a narrative of what he recalled to determine his state of mind

“It was something I was trying to get at,” Reynolds said.

The investigator told the judge that Deputy Taylor Knight spoke about Yadegar’s car moving backward.

“What I have in my report was that he felt the vehicle was going to hit him,” Reynolds said on the witness stand.

He testified that another deputy at the scene perceived that the car was moving toward him, and he had to move to the left fast to avoid getting hit by the car. The same deputy told Reynolds that he perceived that Wall fired his gun as the car was still moving in reverse.

Reynolds also told the judge that Wall’s gun — seized as evidence in the homicide investigation — is no longer in evidence. Neither is Yadegar’s car. The investigator said it’s standard procedure to release evidence after it’s been analyzed by the state Department of Justice, and the gun and the car were examined.

“I thought we were done processing it at that point,” Reynolds said about releasing Yadegar’s car from evidence.

Judith Odbert, Wall’s attorney, asked the experienced investigator whether the prosecution has ever released a gun collected as evidence in a case that was expected to be prosecuted as a homicide.

“The decision to charge (Wall) was made after the firearm was released,” Reynolds testified.

Reynolds later testified that it appeared the gun and the car were released from evidence storage within weeks after the Feb. 26, 2017, shooting. Prosecutors filed the manslaughter charge against Wall in July, about 17 months after the shooting.

The investigator said he reviewed the dashboard camera video at least 10 times. Reynolds said it appeared Wall had taken a “lethal cover” position when he approached Yadegar’s car.

It’s a common tactic for law enforcement officials to use lethal cover to protect colleagues as they use less-than-lethal tactics to confront a suspect, Reynolds said. Wall in the video is seen brandishing his handgun, while another deputy approaches Yadegar’s car with a canine and a third deputy uses a baton to break Yadegar’s driver’s side window.

Autopsy results

Susan Parson, who was forensic pathologist in San Joaquin County two years ago, conducted the autopsy. She testified Tuesday that Yadegar suffered two gunshot wounds. One bullet struck her right forearm. Another struck her torso by entering the left side of her back and piercing ribs, a lung and portions of her heart.

Parson told the judge that she didn’t know which bullet struck Yadegar first, but the bullet that hit her torso was the fatal wound. She said a person can remain conscious moments after suffering such a gunshot wound, but that person would die within minutes.

The pathologist said Yadegar bled internally and essentially bled to death. Parson also said that she examined Yadegar’s medical and psychiatric records. She said Yadegar had bipolar one disorder, which is described as episodes of extreme moods, particularly mania.

Parson testified that she examined Yadegar’s body for medication used to treat bipolar disorder, but none was detected.

“You’d expect (the medication) to be there if she had taken them recently,” Parson said on the witness stand.

The pathologist said she did not know how long Yadegar had gone without the psychiatric medication.

The shooting occurred in the early hours of Feb. 26, 2017. The incident began when Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at 2:56 a.m. at the Hampton Inn & Suites in the 4900 block of Sisk Road in Salida.

Authorities have said a security guard reported that Yadegar had begun an argument and a physical confrontation with him. A deputy arrived at the hotel and saw Yadegar’s vehicle leaving the area.

The deputy gave chase as Yadegar headed north on Highway 99 into San Joaquin County before leaving the highway. The chase continued into Ripon, heading south on South Manley Road and stopping near Tornell Circle.

Authorities initially said Yadegar did not respond to commands to get out of her vehicle and then put it in reverse, driving toward two deputies and a Ripon police officer.

San Joaquin County prosecutors say Yadegar stopped her Volkswagen sedan for several moments in the neighborhood off Main Street, before she drove off again. Then, Wall fired four shots at Yadegar.

Testimony in Wall’s preliminary hearing is expected to continue Wednesday. He is facing the felony charge in San Joaquin County because he shot the woman as the pursuit continued into Ripon.

This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 5:34 PM.