SANTA ANA – The family of a man shot and killed by Anaheim police is taking custody of his body from the Orange County coroner’s office Monday to have an independent autopsy conducted to find out where exactly he was shot, the family’s attorney said.
“We want it for legal purposes and the family wants to know,” said attorney Dana Douglas, whose firm last week filed a $50 million lawsuit on behalf of Manuel Diaz’s family against Anaheim and the Anaheim Police Department alleging federal civil rights violations and wrongful death.
With the Orange County District Attorney’s Office investigating the officer-involved shooting, the coroner keeps the autopsy report confidential, but the family hopes an independent pathologist can help verify the accounts of either eyewitnesses or police of what happened, Douglas said.
According to the Anaheim police union, Diaz ran when officers tried to contact him, holding a “concealed object in his front waist area with both hands.”
After a short foot pursuit, the man pulled the “object” from his waistband and turned toward the officers. Fearing he was drawing a weapon, an officer opened fire, according to the union’s statement.
Witnesses have given a different account, saying Diaz, 25, of Santa Ana, was shot in the back, Douglas said. The family’s suit says one of the officers shot Diaz in the back of his leg, making him fall, and then he or the other officer fired a second gunshot into the back of Diaz’s head.
After the shooting, Anaheim police said that Diaz was not armed; the union declined to say what the object the officer reported seeing was.
The family’s attorneys say they also are seeking a subpoena Monday to take the deposition of the person at the Anaheim Police Association most knowledgeable about the incident to find out how the union knew the details it did.
Douglas questioned at a news conference last week and repeated Monday how the union knew details about the shooting that Anaheim police Chief John Welter has not publicly shared.
Association president Kerry Condon said Monday the chief or the department’s public information officer don’t know the details Condon made public because association attorneys have not shared those with them.
The information he put out comes directly from the attorneys representing the officers, which they can share with him if they so choose.
“I don’t speak with the shooting officers involved in this; the info I get from them is from their attorneys, not from me speaking with the officers,” Condon said.
Contact the writer: 714-834-3773 or vjolly@ocregister.com
