Deputy Was Reckless, Lawyer Says

A rookie Ventura County sheriff’s deputy recklessly shot an innocent man in the back three years ago as the man attempted to disarm his drunken son and should be held liable for battery, negligence and civil rights violations, a lawyer told jurors Tuesday.

Launching a trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, attorney Peter Williamson told jurors that his client, Anthony Morales, had defused the situation and disarmed his son, Chad, but rookie Deputy Tonya Herbst ignored instructions from a training officer and fired her weapon.

The bullet struck the elder Morales, a former Fillmore police officer, in the back, narrowly missing his heart and spine.

“This case is about an overanxious young person who conducted herself in a reckless manner,” Williamson said during his opening statement. He described Anthony Morales as a “hero” needlessly injured by a deputy who used excessive force.

But Oxnard attorney Alan Wisotsky, who is defending Herbst and the county, told jurors in his opening remarks that credible evidence will show that Morales had not disarmed his son and had moved into the path of the bullet during the struggle.

Wisotsky said Herbst had responded to a chaotic and potentially life-threatening scene and justifiably believed her life was in danger when from 10 feet away she saw Chad Morales raising a gun.

Testimony is scheduled to begin today before a jury of five men and three women, who will be asked to decide which story is more believable: the former officer’s or the current one’s.

Herbst, now 31, is still on the force. Her actions were deemed justified by the Ventura County district attorney.

Morales, 51 at the time of the shooting, worked as a private investigator and a long-haul trucker after leaving the Fillmore Police Department, where he had served about 10 years. He is seeking unspecified damages from the county.

There is little dispute about the events leading up to the May 20, 2000, shooting.

Anthony Morales’ nephew was married that day. A wedding reception followed at the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building, where Chad Morales, then 26, drank too much alcohol and was asked to leave by private security guards.

The younger Morales, an Army veteran who had served in Somalia, reluctantly agreed but took offense at being kicked out of a veterans hall, according to attorneys for both sides. He went home, changed from a tuxedo into his Army dress jacket and returned to the hall carrying a semiautomatic handgun -- a gift from his father.

As four sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, Anthony Morales confronted his son at the rear service entrance of the hall. They struggled and the gun went off, hitting a parked truck. About a minute later, Herbst fired her weapon and hit the elder Morales.

Wisotsky, himself a former police officer, contends there is no evidence to support the claims of excessive force and negligence. He said Herbst felt a need to protect herself and others when in a split-second she saw Chad Morales wielding a raised pistol in her direction after deputies had repeatedly told him to drop the weapon.

“This was a situation that was rapidly unfolding, and a situation that was less than ideal,” he told jurors Tuesday. “It’s happening in a heartbeat.”

Wisotsky noted that Chad Morales pleaded guilty to a felony charge of exhibiting a firearm at a peace officer, a conviction he urged jurors to consider in evaluating the case.

The son, who served 120 days in jail, is expected to testify, as are deputies who witnessed the shooting and a retired law enforcement officer retained by the plaintiff as an expert in police tactics.

Williamson, an attorney from Marina del Rey, does not dispute the actions of the younger Morales, an honorably discharged soldier who he said “snapped” after being asked to leave the veterans hall.

The issue, he told jurors, is whether Herbst negligently failed to follow instructions from her training officer and used excessive force when Anthony Morales had possession of the gun and control of the situation. The father is expected to testify that he told the officers, “I have the gun. I have everything under control.”

“There are two versions of this incident,” Williamson told jurors. “But only one that is true.”