CVN screenshot of defense attorney Christian Bojorquez delivering his closing argument
Burbank, CA - A California state court jury delivered a defense verdict Thursday in a high-stakes civil trial accusing an LAPD officer of accidentally killing a 14-year-old girl in a department store while responding to calls about a man attacking customers with a heavy bike lock, and the full trial was webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Los Angeles County jury determined 9-3 that Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr., who still works as a police officer, was not responsible for the death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta in a store dressing room in 2021. Orellana-Peralta’s attorneys accused Jones of recklessly discharging his weapon and firing a stray bullet through a wall while responding to a a 911 call from store employees, but the LAPD successfully argued Jones had to make a life-or-death split-second decision under pressure that few civilians could understand.
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Attorneys for the Peralta family claimed an LAPD response team equipped with non-lethal weapons had already entered the store and was closing in on the suspect, but that Jones arrived later armed with an AR-15 rifle and insisted on “taking point” over the objection of his fellow officers.
Body cam footage recorded other officers repeatedly telling Jones to shoulder his weapon and to slow down before Jones fired three shots, one of which struck Orellana-Peralta, who had taken shelter in a dressing room with her mother.
The plaintiff team insisted that Jones’ failure to comply with department weapons policy and the warnings from his fellow officers on the scene warranted an award of $100 million.
During the trial LAPD attorneys argued Jones’ top priority was neutralizing the attacker. Not knowing the suspect was armed only with a bike lock, Jones' lawyers argued he thought he and his fellow officers were in danger of being shot themselves.
CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Nicholas Rowley delivering his closing argument
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto issued a statement after the verdict expressing grief for the Orellana-Peralta family’s loss but acknowledging that police officers sometimes have to make split-second decisions in dangerous crisis situations.
“Society calls upon our police officers to risk their own safety to protect others and run towards danger when others run away,” Soto stated. “Officer Jones answered that call in pursuit of a violent man threatening bystanders and beating a woman inside the store. We stand by him, knowing that he has carried the burden of Valentina's death with him for many years.”
Attorney Nicholas Rowley of Trial Lawyers for Justice, who represented the plaintiffs, told CVN after the trial his case was significantly hindered by the exclusion of evidence the LAPD police chief determined while investigating the shooting that the shots fired by Jones were unjustified under department policy.
“The jury never got to hear that evidence,” Rowley told CVN with frustration after the trial, saying the verdict left him “devastated.”
Rowley explained how the case had been passed among numerous attorneys, and that his firm became involved only 30 days before the trial. However despite that timeframe and the restriction on presenting testimony from the LAPD chief, Rowley still said the outcome shocked him and co-counsel Haytham Faraj.
“Haytham and I tried a really good case for these folks,” Rowley lamented, while also reiterating that plaintiff trial lawyers must push past adverse verdicts no matter how painful the process.
“On to the next one,” Rowley insisted. “That’s what we have to do. We can’t give up. We have to keep going.”
The LAPD was represented by Jones Mayer Law and the City Attorney's office.
The case is captioned The Estate of Valentina Peralta, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al., case number 22STCV22768 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com