California Criminal Lawyer Blog

Graphic: Events in the fatal shooting

Ritchie told investigators that after he wounded Ramirez, he shot him six times in the chest to “eliminate” the threat he posed because he feared two other robbers would ambush him from behind, according to an internal sheriff's report on the incident, which was obtained before the attorney general's report by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Ritchie, who worked in the county jails for more than three years before transferring to patrol duty, still faces legal action for the shooting: Ramirez's parents sued the deputy in federal court on claims of excessive force and wrongful death.

Ramirez's father acknowledges that his son was a gang member and drug addict, but said that does not justify his death.

“I would like to see the cops use less force when they are doing their job,” Benny Ramirez said in a recent interview at his Escondido home. “I can't accept he's dead. I keep thinking he's going to do some time and be home in six months.”

Ritchie is accused in another federal lawsuit of striking a suspect in the head with a flashlight as the man lay on the ground. A third lawsuit involves a man who claims he was assaulted by Ritchie and another deputy as he approached an ambulance in Encinitas to check on his son, who had been attacked.

Jorge Ramirez's family keeps a memorial at their Escondido home. Sixteen months after Ramirez's death, sheriff's Deputy Mark Ritchie was involved in a second fatal shooting.
Ritchie did not return phone messages left at work seeking comment, but in papers filed with the court has denied doing anything wrong. A Sheriff's Department spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuits because the department is also a defendant.

Less than two years after the Ramirez shooting, Ritchie was involved in a second fatal shooting – that of a Marine who refused to stop for officers and then raced his truck toward them, said two sources familiar with the shooting. Law enforcement officials have refused to disclose the names of the four officers who fired their weapons, citing a recent state Supreme Court decision that they say allows them to keep the names private.

In the excessive-force lawsuits, lawyers paint Ritchie as an aggressive deputy who often violates people's constitutional rights by using violence to subdue them.

While it is not necessarily uncommon for a few officers to be responsible for multiple shootings, law enforcement experts said it is unusual for one officer to face simultaneous lawsuits alleging excessive force.

First fatal shooting

On June 29, 2005, Ritchie had been working for 15 hours when deputies began investigating a report of a robbery at a Vista convenience store. Ritchie was not among those sent, but drove toward the store anyway looking for the robbers, according to court records.

About 9 p.m. near Thibodo Park, he came across a Jeep that matched the description of the getaway vehicle. It was being followed by a small sedan. Ritchie flashed his spotlight and pulled alongside the Jeep when it stopped on the side of the road.

Three people ran from the Jeep, and Ritchie chased Ramirez, the driver.

Ritchie fired 11 shots as Ramirez ran away with his hands near his waist, according to the Sheriff's Department's internal review of the shooting.

The bullets missed Ramirez, who kept running. Ritchie fired five more shots and hit Ramirez twice in the right rear thigh. One of the bullets broke his femur and caused him to fall, according to the sheriff's internal documents.

Ritchie told sheriff's investigators he reloaded and fired six shots into Ramirez's chest, killing him, according to the sheriff's investigation of the incident.

It was later discovered that Ramirez had a folding knife clipped near his front right pocket.

In recapping the deadly encounter to sheriff's investigators hours afterward, Ritchie said he feared for his life because he was alone in the dark chasing a robbery suspect he believed was armed. He said he had no flashlight, the battery on his police radio was dying and he could not tell if other deputies were en route to help, according to court records.

Ritchie also said he was worried that the two other people who ran from the Jeep or those who were in the sedan could attack him, he told investigators.

“I did not feel comfortable tackling, OCing (using pepper spray), using my baton, any other sort of force option at that time where I had to be in close quarters with him in that lighting situation without cover, without a light,” Ritchie told investigators in documents obtained by the Union-Tribune.

“I shot one round from probably ten feet to his rear. I know that round entered ... because I heard him, I heard him gasp for air,” Ritchie told sheriff's homicide investigators. “And he immediately stopped running and started to walk.”

Moments later, Ramirez fell to the ground. The deputy told investigators he could not see Ramirez's hands. Ritchie said he felt “overwhelmed” by the situation and decided to fire more shots.

“I didn't know what he was doing. And I didn't, I didn't want to have two threats at once,” Ritchie told the investigators. “I needed to eliminate that so I could address the second.”

The Ramirez lawsuit has been in limbo since a federal judge granted a request from the County Counsel's Office to dismiss the case, but gave the family the option to amend the lawsuit. Shortly after the decision, the family's attorney, John Bell from the Pacific Law Center, quit the case. The family has been given until Aug. 29 to find a new lawyer.

Second deadly incident

Ritchie was involved in a second fatal shooting 16 months after Ramirez was killed.

Ritchie, another deputy and two California Highway Patrol officers fired at Marine Cpl. Robert J. Medina in Solana Beach as he accelerated his vehicle toward the officers Nov. 16, 2006, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because law enforcement agencies refuse to identify the officers involved in the shooting. The officers were trying to stop Medina, who was based at Camp Pendleton and had recently returned from Iraq, as he drove erratically. They believed he was drunk during the hour-long chase.

The Sheriff's Department, which in the past routinely made public the names of deputies who fired their weapons, will not confirm that Ritchie was involved in the shooting. Officials cited a new policy of refusing to identify deputies adopted after the California Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement personnel records are confidential and can be made public only in limited circumstances.

The district attorney's review of the shooting has not been completed, spokesman Paul Levikow said. Law enforcement officials have released few details about the case.

The other two lawsuits against Ritchie accuse him of excessive force.

Anthony Duncan, 45, of Carlsbad claims Ritchie struck him with a flashlight above the right eye as he surrendered after running from the deputy. The laceration took 12 stitches to close. In addition to excessive force, the lawsuit accuses Ritchie of filing a false police report on how Duncan was injured during the June 8, 2005, incident.

According to Ritchie's report, Duncan was in a vehicle that was double-parked on Nettleton Road near state Route 78 in Vista when someone yelled from an adjacent van. When Ritchie stopped his patrol car to investigate the noise, Duncan drove away, and Ritchie chased him. Duncan later abandoned his car and tried to run away, but fell and hit his head, according to the report.

Duncan's attorney, James Dunn, did not return messages seeking comment. His client sought $1.5 million in damages in Superior Court before the case was transferred to federal court a year ago. The two sides are scheduled to meet in August to discuss settling the case.

In court papers filed in connection with the lawsuit, the County Counsel's Office, which is defending the Sheriff's Department, wrote that the deputy did nothing wrong.

“It was during the foot pursuit that (Duncan's) trouser shorts came off and he fell on his face,” wrote Ricky Sanchez, a senior deputy attorney at the County Counsel's Office. “Deputy Ritchie used his baton on (Duncan's) torso to apprehend and prevent him from running onto the freeway and endangering himself and freeway motorists.”

Third Lawsuit

The third lawsuit was filed by Thomas O'Shea Jr., of Encinitas and Zachary Vance, 21, of Hemet in Superior Court. They accuse Ritchie and Deputy Raul Silva of assaulting them Dec. 23, 2005, near Mountain Vista Drive and Village Parkway in Encinitas. They were walking toward an ambulance where O'Shea's son was being treated after an attack.

“Without any provocation on the part of (O'Shea and Vance), (the deputies) ... proceeded to assault and batter (O'Shea and Vance), causing severe and debilitating injuries,” attorney Thomas Friedberg wrote.

They are each seeking at least $350,000 in damages.

Court papers filed by the County Counsel's Office in response to the lawsuit say the deputies did nothing wrong.

Law enforcement officials have released no other details about the incident, and Friedberg did not return calls seeking comment.

A hearing on motions in the lawsuit is scheduled for today.

In addition to the lawsuits, Ritchie's tactics were called into question during a preliminary hearing for Derlyn Ray Threats, who is accused of fatally stabbing Carolyn Rebecca Neville, 24, as he burglarized her Vista home Sept. 1, 2005.

Under oath, Ritchie said that after a chase, Threats gave up and lay on his stomach, and the deputy handcuffed him.

“I believe he was cooperative, and he put his hands (on his back) for me,” Ritchie said while being questioned by Deputy Public Defender Sloan Ostbye.

Ritchie ordered Threats to get up. When he did not, the deputy kicked the handcuffed man.

“I've had other people be able to get up from that position,” Ritchie testified during the April 17, 2006, hearing. “He wasn't getting up, so in order to get him to stand up as I was ordering him to, I used my left foot to strike him in the abdomen, yes.”

Ostbye called Ritchie's kick “excessive force” and plans to use it as part of her client's defense in the case, in which Threats could receive the death penalty if convicted.

“The facts of this homicide strongly indicated that the deceased fought back against her attacker with great force,” Ostbye wrote in court papers. “There is documented some injury to Mr. Threats. This injury may very well be directly related to the force inflicted upon him by Deputy Ritchie.”

John Parker, who recently retired after 10 years as the executive officer of the county Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board, said there is no simple explanation for the deputy's actions.

Parker, who was an Oakland police officer for 22 years and served seven years on the San Francisco Police Commission, has reviewed dozens of officer-involved shootings and hundreds of complaints filed by the public against officers.

“It's certainly unusual for any deputy to have three lawsuits for excessive force. Certainly it could be bad luck, or it could be something he's doing,” Parker said. “It's a dangerous world out there, and a lot of people will fight to stay out of jail.”

During the board's review of the Ramirez case, Parker criticized Ritchie for placing himself in a dangerous situation. Specifically, the deputy went to a call without being sent and did not alert anyone to his location, Parker said. He also questioned Ritchie's decision to pull alongside the Jeep, which left him open to attack.

“He placed himself into that position and did not have help coming,” Parker said. “I believe none of that would have happened had he been responding to the call without notifying someone on the radio.”

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