UPDATE: Andrew Hall Sentenced To 6 Years In Prison For The Officer-Involved Fatal Shooting Of Laudemer Arboleda
MARTINEZ (CBS SF) -- Former Contra Costa sheriff's deputy Andrew Hall was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for the shooting death of Laudemer Arboleda, who was killed in a hail of bullets at the end of a 2018 slow-speed police pursuit in Danville.
After more than an hour of emotional presentencing statements from friends and relatives of Arboleda and some who supported Hall, Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler sentenced the former deputy to three years in state prison for the assault and additional three years for a great bodily injury enhancement.
Before issuing the sentence, Mockler told Hall that Arboleda "did not deserve to die."
"The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust," Mockler said, adding that Arboleda "did not deserve to die for evading a police officer. That is really the crux of this. While he may have violated the law, it was no law that carried a sentence of death for him." for evading a police officer. That is really the crux of this."
Arboleda suffered from mental illness and was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
Hall, who could have been sentenced to 17 years in prison, was convicted of assault with a firearm at his Oct. 26 trial, but the trial jury couldn't reach a decision on one charge of manslaughter.
After the sentencing, Laudemer's mother, Jeannie Atienza, issued a statement asking for a new trial on the voluntary manslaughter charge the trial jury deadlocked on.
"Today brings some closure to our family," she said in her statement. "Officer Andrew Hall was sentenced to 6 years in state prison. Although we will never be able to see our Laudemer again, we are grateful for some accountability to be served for Officer Hall. Our family has been through hell and it still hurts us till this day...We still want Officer Hall to be retried on the voluntary manslaughter charge for what he did to my son. The preferential treatment shown to Hall as an officer throughout this trial has only added to our trauma."
Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, meanwhile, said she was satisfied with the sentence.
"No sentence imposed will bring Laudemer Aboleda back to his family," Becton said. "The sentence imposed today is proportionate to the egregious shooting committed by a law enforcement officer who took the life of one man, and in doing so endangered the lives of his fellow officers and civilians. We respect the ruling of the judge and extend our condolences to the family of Laudemer Arboleda."
Prosecutors had argued Hall used "excessive, unreasonable and unnecessary" force when he shot Arboleda nine times as he drove away from police during the slow-speed chase. Hall's lawyers said the officer feared for his safety and asked the jury to sympathize with the officer's need to make split-second decisions.
Police had repeatedly tried to pull Arboleda over after residents called police reporting a suspicious person knocking on doors. The incident ended at the intersection of Diablo Road and Front Street, with two police units behind Arboleda's gray Honda Civic, and two in front, including Hall's.
Arboleda was trying to pull between two police cars when Hall opened fire on the front driver's side of Arboleda's car.
Shortly after the October verdict, Contra Costa County agreed to pay $4.9 million to Arboleda's family to settle a lawsuit.
An initial investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office -- which contracts with Danville for police services -- cleared Hall of any wrongdoing.
Charges weren't filed in the Arboleda case until Hall made more news by shooting and killing another man in March 2021 in Danville. Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old transient, died in the shooting near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate Highway 680.
Police say Wilson approached Hall with a knife, which seems to be confirmed in bodycam video. Judge Terri Mockler ruled the Wilson case couldn't be used against Hall during the Arboleda trial.
Authorities are still investigating the second shooting, and no charges have been filed.
© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.
