Tragedy times three
Pasadena council to consider case that may leave toddler a virtual orphan
By André Coleman 10/09/2008
The lawyer for a toddler whose mother was killed by a Pasadena police officer who fired into a car driven by the child’s father, an alleged gang member, met with attorneys for the city Monday, but the two sides did not reach a settlement.
Erica Hindman, 21, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2006, by first-year Officer Timothy Bundy while riding in a car driven by her boyfriend, Walter Jesus Villanueva, who was fleeing Bundy and other officers responding to reports of shots being fired in the area.
Because a criminal suspect in California can be charged with murder if someone dies during the commission of a felony, the 23-year-old Villanueva now faces murder charges in connection with Hindman’s death.
Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian personally delivered news of Hindman’s death to her family. “This is a horrific incident,” Melekian told the Weekly at the time. “Walter Villanueva started a chain of events that terrorized members of this community and they led to the tragic death of Erica.”
While that contention has yet to be determined by a criminal court, a civil attorney for Hindman’s family has concerns other than Villanueva’s guilt or innocence.
“It’s pretty clear that we proved our case and that Ms. Hindman was unjustifiably shot,” said Brad Gage, an attorney representing the couple’s unidentified 3-year-old daughter. “I think there is a good chance we will reach a settlement.”
In court proceedings, Bundy testified that he fired his weapon only after Villanueva raised his arm and pointed his gun at him. “At the moment I observed the arm rise, extend and point in my direction from the darkened interior of the vehicle containing a fleeing, violent felon, I thought I was going to be shot and killed or seriously injured,” Bundy testified, according to a transcript of the proceedings. “I fired my weapon once in self-defense.”
Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman declared a mistrial in the case on Aug. 25 after Gage showed Hindman’s autopsy photos to jurors while the shooting victim’s emotionally distraught mother was present in the courtroom — something Freeman had warned Gage one day earlier not to do. When Hindman’s mother saw one of the photos, she began crying, creating a scene that Freeman determined had prejudiced the jury.
Pasadena City Council members discussed the case in closed session on Sept. 22, but reported no action being taken. Gage said members of the jury empanelled in the first trial could have awarded a judgment of close to $3 million. The next trial was scheduled to start Wednesday, but City Attorney Michele Beal-Bagneris said the city will seek a continuance.
“We are going back to council and we won’t be able to do that before the 15th,” said Bagneris, who declined to discuss specifics of the case.
Pasadena police allow the use of lethal force only as a last resort. Officers are prohibited from firing their weapons at moving vehicles unless the driver presents a danger to bystanders or the officer. According to Gage, neither Bundy nor anyone else was at risk at the moment the officer fired the fatal shot.
The incident began when police received a call at about 1 a.m. from a young woman reporting that Villanueva followed her and her friends to a party near the intersection of North Marengo Avenue and Tremont Street, where he fired shots at them from a vehicle. Police have said shots being fired could be heard while the unidentified girl was on the phone with a dispatcher.
Bundy was one of the officers who responded to the scene, and while officers were interviewing witnesses, Villanueva allegedly returned to the area and fired several more shots into the air before driving off at high speed, police say.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT