In a turn of events that has gripped the city, a mistrial has been declared in the contentious case against a former LAPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed man at a Costco store in Corona. Salvador Alejandro Sanchez, the ex-cop in question, was facing charges for voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm for his actions on June 14, 2019.
Sanchez, who was off-duty and holding his child at the time of the incident, fired at Kenneth French, a 32-year-old with an intellectual disability, and injured his parents. The grainy surveillance footage from Costco revealed some form of physical altercation preceding the shooting. Despite the footage and the severity of the act, the jury found themselves at an impasse, unable to reach a consensus on Sanchez's fate, leading to a mistrial declared on Thursday, as reported by KTLA.
At a previous juncture, the Riverside County grand jury chose not to indict Sanchez, which prompted state officials to step in and lay charges. It wasn't until 2020, following a classification of the shooting as an unjustifiable use of deadly force by the LA Police Commission, that Sanchez was fired from the LAPD. The French family eventually won a $17 million lawsuit for negligence and civil rights violations against the city and Sanchez, according to CBS News Los Angeles.
The stark dichotomy between the defense and prosecution's interpretations of the events could not be more pronounced. While Murphy claimed Sanchez hastily crafted a self-defense narrative, Sanchez's attorney Schwartz contended the fear of immediate danger justified his client's split-second response. "If the danger was real, meaning Ken French had a gun, and you take time to confirm it, you’re dead," Schwartz argued, as per Hoodline. The hung jury leaves unresolved tensions in a community already unsettled by frequent debates over police conduct.
Further complicating the proceedings, Russell French claimed he informed Sanchez that his son had a disability just before the shots were fired. "After hearing Officer [Salvador] Sanchez identify himself as a police officer, I begged and told him not to shoot. I said, 'We have no guns, and my son is sick,'" Russell told KTLA. Despite these pleas, his warnings went unheeded, resulting in a tragic outcome that is still seeking justice in the court of law. With the mistrial, Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy has indicated a need to discuss with his office before deciding whether to retry the case.
