Andrew Hall case goes to jury; former deputy awaits verdict on manslaughter charge

Nearly three weeks of testimony inside a Contra Costa County courtroom boil down to a single question:

Did a Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy needlessly kill a mentallly ill man who was trying to escape police after a slow-speed car chase, or was the deputy left with no decision but to shoot or be run over?

That question loomed Thursday as a jury of eight men and four women began deliberations in the manslaughter trial of Andrew Hall, whose prosecution has drawn outsized attention for its unprecedented nature and the turmoil it stoked within the local district attorney’s office.

The case represents an early test of the renewed push by prosecutors across the country to charge officers in misconduct cases, which gained fresh energy after the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing murder conviction against the officer who killed him, Derek Chauvin.

Never before has a Contra Costa County law enforcement officer faced felony charges after an on-duty police shooting.

After nearly three weeks of testimony, the jury was left to sift through dueling narratives about what happened when Hall fatally shot 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda on Nov. 3, 2018.

In closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors painted Hall as a rogue officer who ignored his training and sought to join a chase that needlessly ended in bloodshed.

“This prosecution is not a commentary on policing in general,” said Colleen Gleason, a prosecutor. “What the defendant did that day was an absolute abuse of power, and tarnished the badge.”

Hall’s attorneys said the deputy was merely trying to save his life after Arboleda’s car moved toward him and nearly ran him over.

“There’s no margin for error,” said Harry Stern, a defense attorney. “He makes any other choice, he gets hit by the car.” Finding him guilty, Stern added, would be “a travesty — it would be penalizing someone for doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”

The case has roiled the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, with four prosecutors filing a protest letter after District Attorney Diana Becton announced charges against Hall. The decision was announced the day after Chauvin was found guilty in Floyd’s death, some two and a half years after the Danville incident.

Prosecutors on Thursday were adamant that the case was solely about Hall’s actions that day being “unreasonable, unnecessary and excessive” on that sunny day in Danville.

Prosecutor Chris Walpole called the defense’s strategy “desperate,” and took direct aim at almost all of the defense team’s witnesses — calling them “combative” and untrustworthy.

“Think about how they came across, as a whole,” Walpole said before flatly telling the jury that one of Hall’s fellow deputies “was not being candid with you.”

He pointed out that at least two other deputies had Arboleda at gunpoint but, unlike Hall, never opened fire. Instead, they let Arboleda drive around them.

Walpole also ran through a 10-point list of moments when he said Hall had ignored his training as a sheriff’s deputy. Hall never had a plan of action, Walpole argued, nor did Hall communicate with other deputies in the chase, pick a safe location for confronting Arboleda or keep his eye on the man’s car once stopped.

“In this situation, Hall was the most dangerous person that day,” Walpole said.

Defense attorney Stern blanched at the notion of comparing Hall to other deputies who drew their guns but did not shoot at Arboleda that day, calling it “a false and unfair equivalency.”

“Don’t fall for that, don’t buy that,” Stern added.

He flatly asked jurors to focus solely on the moments when Hall came face-to-face with Arboleda.

In that moment, Hall’s decision to pull his gun was in line with the training that deputies have received in Contra Costa County, Stern said. Hall was firing, the attorney added, only as a way to save himself when Arboleda pulled forward into a “tunnel” between Hall’s cruiser and another police vehicle.

“He hesitates for a second, he gets hit by the Honda,” Stern said. “Where the car is, more than likely his legs are going to get tangled up.”

Stern implored the jury not to focus on the slow-speed chase that wound its way through Danville before the shooting. He also called prosecutors’ focus on Arboleda’s mental health during the shooting an unneeded diversion.

Arboleda had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the shooting, according to earlier testimony. Prosecutors on Thursday referenced an officer remarking that he had a “zombie” look in his eyes that day.

Stern again harkened back to the moment when Hall opened fire.

“The window of examination in this case is narrow,” Stern said. “It’s those few seconds. He took action that was appropriate.”

Jurors will resume deliberations on Monday.