Motorcycle officer who killed pedestrian should not have been riding

A former CHP motorcycle officer who killed a Long Beach pedestrian while riding to work should not have been on motorcycle duty because of an eye ailment, the officer’s supervisor said in a sworn deposition.

California Highway Patrol Lt. Joe Dominguez testified under oath that if Officer Alfredo Gutierrez had reported his impaired eyesight, he would have been removed from motorcycle duty pending medical clearance. The testimony was included in court papers filed this week in a wrongful death lawsuit against the CHP by the family of Cezannie Mount, the 24-year-old pedestrian killed in October 2019.

The documents filed by attorneys Eric Dubin and Annee Della Donna said there is no evidence Gutierrez was examined or cleared by CHP-contracted doctors.

“Dominguez testified the most important issue was ensuring that the officer could safely operate the motorcycle without harming themselves or the public, and made clear Gutierrez would not have been allowed on a CHP motorcycle at the time he hit and killed Cezannie without the mandated CHP doctor’s clearance he could safely perform his duties,” the attorneys said in the documents.

“Either (the CHP) knew and they didn’t care or Gutierrez never told them,” said Della Donna, explaining that Gutierrez has said his supervisors knew everything. “Somebody’s lying.”

Medical records show that Gutierrez was diagnosed five days before the accident with central serous chorioretinopathy, a condition that distorts vision because of a build-up of fluids beneath the retina.

Gutierrez’s medical condition was not known by prosecutors or jurors during his criminal trial in May for Mount’s death.

Gutierrez was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter because he was traveling at nearly 70 mph in a 40-mph zone. A mistrial was declared after jurors were unable to reach a verdict. The Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office announced it would not seek a retrial, partially to spare Mount’s family from another protracted proceeding.

Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert has said his office would have introduced Gutierrez’s eye condition as evidence of recklessness if prosecutors had been told about it.

FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Swift Telecast is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – swifttelecast.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment