A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy will avoid prison time for the 2021 shooting death of a suicidal man under terms of a plea deal reached with prosecutors Tuesday morning.
Remin Pineda will be placed on probation for two years and must relinquish his right to be a police officer in California after pleading no contest to one count of assault with a firearm and one count of assault under color of authority, prosecutors said.
Pineda must also perform 250 hours of community service and offer a written apology to the victim's family, and faces a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail if he violates the terms of the agreement. He will also be prohibited from possessing a firearm for the rest of his life.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office reached a similar agreement last year with Pineda, one of four officers who shot and killed David Ordaz outside his family's home while the man wielded a knife in 2021. But a judge rejected the deal after Ordaz's family members made emotional pleas that his potential sentence be too light.
Ordaz's family filled the courtroom again Tuesday, many of them wearing badges emblazoned with an image of their loved one, shedding tears even before Los Angeles County Deputy. Lawyer. Ryan Dibble finished explaining the terms of the deal.
This time, Los Angeles County Judge Mark S. Arnold accepted the plea deal.
Hilda Pedroza, Ordaz's older sister, pleaded with Arnold to allow a jury of Los Angeles County residents to decide Pineda's fate and give her family “hope in this justice system.”
“Give the opportunity to the Los Angeles community, to Los Angeles County, to watch this video to give them the opportunity to see it for themselves and judge for themselves,” he said.
Pineda was charged with assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority in 2022. Prosecutors determined they did not have enough evidence to charge two other officers who shot Ordaz Jr., and said a third acted in self-defense.
However, Pineda's use of force was considered excessive because he continued shooting even after Ordaz Jr. was on the ground and fired at least one bullet after dropping the knife, according to a recording of the incident played on the cut last year.
Officers were called to the home in March 2021 after Ordaz Jr. armed himself with a sword and told his sister he was suicidal. When officers confronted him, he was holding a 12-inch kitchen knife and yelled at officers to shoot him, according to body camera footage taken at the scene.
“That's not what we want to do, man,” Pineda said, according to court records.
Finally, the officers fired bullets in an effort to subdue Ordaz Jr. But he advanced toward them and the four officers opened fire, killing him with a volley of at least a dozen bullets. The shooting continued as Ordaz Jr. collapsed and his family members screamed, according to the video.
Pineda continued shooting after the other officers stopped shooting, even as Ordaz Jr. “continued to lie on the ground on the right side of his body,” according to court records.
Footage of the incident showed Pineda firing a bullet even after another officer told him to stop.
Pineda's attorney, Steven Alvarado, disagreed with the idea that a prison sentence would be the only justice in the case and said he believed his client is paying a “heavy price.”
“There are no winners in this case,” he said. “I empathize with the family members who are here today.”
The case is representative of the struggles of the outgoing Los Angeles County district. Lawyer. George Gascón has confronted the police in cases of excessive force in his aggressive pursuit. While he has charged officers in shootings far more frequently than his predecessors, those cases have often ended in acquittals, firings or plea deals with minimal prison terms.
“We have to take a realistic view on the particular courtroom we're in, who the judges are, what kind of rulings we've been getting,” Gascón said in an interview with The Times last month. “Sometimes we settle for less than we want…sometimes we recognize that we are working at a disadvantage and we are doing the best we can.”
