An independent civil rights commission investigating the shooting of Luis Gutierrez Navarro will likely continue to hold hearings despite local, state and federal investigations finding nothing wrong.
Gutierrez, 26, was shot by Yolo County Sheriff's deputies on the anti-gang task force April 30, 2009 on the East Gum Avenue and Highway 113 overpass in Woodland.
The U.S. Department of Justice released a letter to the Yolo County Sheriff's Department Monday closing the Gutierrez investigation. In the letter dated Feb. 4, the Department of Justice stated, "After careful consideration, we concluded that the evidence does not establish a prosecutable violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes."
Labor and civil rights groups will hold a news conference Friday responding to the U.S. Department of Justice's conclusion and questionable "investigation," according to a statement from event sponsors and organizers.
The conference will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Federal Court House in Sacramento, 501 I Street. Groups involved include Yolo County Justice Coalition, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO and Chicano Consortium.
Former Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, who leads the independent commission, said Wednesday that facts given to the U.S. Department of Justice were from the Yolo County District Attorney's Office, which had previously conducted an investigation.
"The district attorney's report is a great variance from the witnesses we have heard," he said, referring to the commission's hearings. "None of our questions have been answered."
The independent civil rights commission filed a Freedom of Information Act request for materials the district's attorney office has, including police reports. The commission has not received the documents yet and Reynoso said the district attorney's office claimed this was because the case was still under investigation.
Reynoso expects to get the information soon, and once the commission does, it will hold more hearings.