Why is it taking so long to try Stanislaus County deputy accused of manslaughter?
After more than a year of delays, the manslaughter trial of Stanislaus County sheriff’s Deputy Justin Wall is scheduled to begin in March.
The trial was first postponed in March 2020 when a witness was unable to fly back to the United States from Europe due to COVID-19 restrictions.
It was continued again in June because Wall’s original attorney retired.
Then the trial date that had been scheduled for Jan. 8 was vacated so the defense could have time to secure another expert witness.
And in December, Wall’s attorneys filed motions to have the case thrown out or to bar the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office from prosecuting it.
Among the defense’s arguments was that the San Joaquin County district attorney is a member of a group of progressive district attorneys that supports criminal justice reform and that she participated in a Black Lives Matter demonstration.
The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office charged Wall with voluntary manslaughter one year after he fatally shot Evin Olsen Yadegar, 46, while on duty Feb. 26, 2017.
Yadegar led Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies on a low-speed pursuit from Salida — where she’d been involved in a physical confrontation with a hotel security guard — to San Joaquin County, where she stopped in a residential neighborhood in Ripon.
Deputies and Ripon police officers surrounded Yadegar’s vehicle and ordered her out.
Video footage from a Ripon police patrol car dashboard camera shows Yadegar backing up her car a few feet before moving forward to go around Wall’s Chevrolet Tahoe. Wall is seen taking a step toward Yadegar’s vehicle and firing four times as she was moving the car forward around the Tahoe.
Yadegar had bipolar I disorder, which is described as episodes of extreme moods, particularly mania. That night, her husband told Modesto police that she was missing and could be a danger to herself.
Motion cites DA’s political interests
A judge, following a six-day preliminary hearing in March 2019, determined there was enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
But last month, Wall’s attorney William Clark filed motions to dismiss the case altogether or recuse the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office from prosecuting it.
The defense argued that San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar’s political interests, including her “very public ‘police accountability’ and ‘social justice’ reform position, prejudices her against police,” according to its motion.
The motion cited Salazar renouncing her membership to the California District Attorneys Association last year to join a small alliance of progressive district attorneys in the state that supports criminal justice reform.
Reform supported by the Prosecutors Alliance of California (PAC) that the defense argues shows a bias against Wall is:
A second look review by the state Attorney General’s Office when an investigation by a local prosecutor results in a decision not to file criminal charges.
- District attorneys should recuse themselves from the decision-making process of a law enforcement officer’s prosecution if that officer was part of an organization that contributed to his or her campaign.
The defense also pointed to a Black Lives Matter protest in June in which Salazar was seen on video with a megaphone chanting “no justice, no peace.”
“Her political interest and ambitions have created her ‘line in sand’ stance, which irreparably affects her sound judgment and discretion in this case,” Clark wrote in the motion. “Justin Wall has not been treated fairly by the prosecution.”’
Irrelevant ‘water-cooler talk’
In the extraordinary event that a district attorney’s office is recused from prosecuting a case, the state Attorney General’s Office would take over.
The AG’s office joined the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office in opposing the defense’s motion, saying it was based on speculation and provided no evidence that Wall would not receive a fair trial.
San Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau, who is prosecuting the case against Wall, points out in his opposition to the defense’s motion that Salazar is a member and in good standing with the California State Bar and adheres to its ethical principles.
He also references a memorandum of understanding signed by all law enforcement in the county that outlines an established set of procedures the District Attorney’s Office uses when reviewing an officer-involved shooting. The MOU has been in place for nearly three decades.
“Defendant spends a great deal of time excoriating ‘social justice’ in general and PAC in particular,” Himelblau wrote. “This commentary is best left for water-cooler talk and not a legal motion. The claims are irrelevant and should be dismissed out of hand.”
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Michael Coughlan did deny the defense’s recusal motion during a hearing last Monday, along with the motion to dismiss the case and a motion to compel discovery, which the defense said had violated Wall’s right to due process.
The prosecution had argued that the discovery issue had already been settled two years ago during the preliminary hearing and the defense had access to all information afforded by law to Wall.
Wrongful-death settlement
In addition to the criminal charges, Yadegar’s husband, Hanibal, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wall, Stanislaus County and the city of Ripon.
Stanislaus County and Wall settled with Hanibal Yadegar in June 2019, agreeing to pay the widower and the couple’s minor son $7 million in damages.
Ripon continued to fight the case, saying fault lay solely with Stanislaus County. Hanibal Yadegar’s attorney Stewart Tabak said a Ripon officer improperly positioned himself behind Evin Yadegar’s vehicle, creating Wall’s “claimed defense of shooting her to protect that officer.”
In September, Ripon agreed to settle with Hanibal Yadegar in the amount of $125,000 but denied any liability, according a release of claims obtained by The Bee.
The city spent $125,619 litigating the case.
Wall remains employed by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department but is “working a modified assignment doing non-peace officer duties,” said department spokesman Sgt. Tom Letras.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
