Defense in Costco voluntary manslaughter case says shooter was protecting his toddler

Defense attorney Michael Schwartz projected onto the courtroom screen a photo of Salvador Alejandro Sanchez carrying his 20-month-old son, Noah, in the Costco in Corona on June 14, 2019. Moments later, intellectually disabled 32-year-old Kenneth French would punch Sanchez to the floor, prompting the off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer to fatally shoot French and wound his parents.

“This is what this case is really about,” Schwartz told jurors during the second day of closing arguments of Sanchez’s trial at Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday, Dec. 27. “The most vulnerable person there. A parent defending his child.”

The jurors began deliberations Wednesday in the monthlong trial. They will decide whether Sanchez, 33, is guilty of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm. He faces up to 33 years in prison if convicted on all counts, said the prosecutor, state Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy.

Schwartz described the confrontation as a “very fast, very shocking, very traumatic event.”

Sanchez was heard in body-worn camera footage telling Corona police officers that he believed he had been shot by French and knocked unconscious in the sausage samples line in the deli.

Murphy, in his closing argument, said Sanchez should have taken the time to assess the situation. If he had, he would have realized that he was punched and not shot and would not have used deadly force.

But Schwartz said the shooting was legally justified because Sanchez had to act quickly to protect himself and his son.

“The prosecution says he needs to confirm the need for deadly force before using it,” Schwartz said. “It sounds nice. It speaks against the reality of the situation. You don’t have time in the moment to confirm the actual threat. Here’s the kicker: If the beliefs were reasonable, the danger does not need to actually exist. Confirming it is actually the opposite of what the law says. If the danger was real, meaning Ken French had a gun, and you take time to confirm it, you’re dead.”

Schwartz said jurors should not convict Sanchez on the assault charges because he was focused on shooting Kenneth French in order to eliminate the threat to himself and his son and that the parents inadvertently got in the way of the volley of 10 shots that were fired in a matter of seconds.

Schwartz also said the fact that Sanchez did not fire all 13 rounds in his service weapon was proof that he did not intend to kill. He reminded jurors of testimony that indicated once Sanchez realized the threat had ended, that it would still take a second for him to stop shooting. During that time, multiple shots could be fired.

Schwartz repeatedly questioned prosecution evidence. He projected a bowl and package of Frosted Flakes on the screen and compared an insect falling into the bowl to the prosecution’s case, saying some of it was tainted by the introduction of facts that were not proven.

“If the bowl of cereal is infested, you have to throw out the full box,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the prosecution did not prove the shooting was unreasonable beyond a reasonable doubt.

“That is the mountain they have to climb. And they are not even close,” Schwartz said. “The law says ‘What did he know in that moment?’”