The deadly 2019 encounter between Seattle police and Denis Rodriguez Martinez is back under a public microscope this week, as a formal inquest opened Monday at the King County Courthouse. Jurors are expected to spend the week sifting through graphic evidence and sworn testimony to decide whether officers’ use of deadly force during a pre-dawn apartment confrontation on Feb. 7, 2019 met legal and policy standards. Prosecutors have already reviewed the case and declined to file criminal charges against the officers involved.
When and where
The inquest is scheduled for April 6–10 in courtroom E-753 on the 7th floor of the King County Courthouse, with sessions running weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. King County says the proceedings will be livestreamed via Zoom so the public can watch remotely, and that recordings and documents will be posted online as the hearing moves forward, according to the King County Inquest Program.
What investigators say happened
Jurors will see body-worn camera video, 3-D crime-scene scans and witness statements gathered by prosecutorial investigators. Those materials describe Seattle officers forcing their way into an apartment in the early hours of Feb. 7, 2019 and finding a woman on the floor who had been decapitated.
According to the investigative report, Denis Rodriguez Martinez then came into view armed with a large kitchen knife and a meat cleaver. The report says he initially dropped the weapons, but later picked them up again and advanced toward officers, at which point two officers fired and hit him. Investigators recovered five spent cartridge casings at the scene and concluded from the video that a total of six shots were fired, according to a public memorandum from the prosecutor’s office.
Autopsy and toxicology
The prosecutor’s memo quotes the King County Medical Examiner as stating that “the cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds.” The autopsy documented five handgun wounds on Rodriguez Martinez.
The same report notes that the female victim suffered 168 superficial and deep sharp-force injuries. State toxicology testing found methamphetamine and amphetamine in Rodriguez Martinez’s blood, and those medical findings are part of the inquest file jurors will review this week, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Why prosecutors didn’t charge
After reviewing the Seattle Police Force Investigation Team file, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office decided in July 2024 not to bring criminal charges against the officers. The office concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to prove criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt, according to local reporting and court documents.
Prosecutors pointed to the legal standard that focuses on whether officers acted in “good faith,” a test that requires the state to account for and overcome likely defenses before it could secure convictions. The inquest, by contrast, is an administrative fact-finding hearing rather than a criminal trial, and the county has recently revised its inquest process in an effort to move cases more quickly and surface recommendations on policy and training reforms, as reported by KING 5 and KIRO 7.
What to watch this week
Jurors are expected to spend much of the week watching body-camera footage and hearing detailed forensic testimony about the knife injuries, the medical examiner’s conclusions and the officers’ split-second decisions inside the apartment. It is the kind of slow, methodical proceeding that rarely makes for dramatic television, but often shapes policy debates behind the scenes.
Family members and community advocates frequently use these public inquests to push for changes in police policy and training. For those who cannot make it to the courthouse, King County says recordings and documents will be posted as the hearing unfolds. The inquest page on the county website includes the Zoom link and schedule for anyone who wants to follow along from home, according to the King County Inquest Program.
