Overview
- Judge Sam Ohta granted District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s motion on Thursday, ending the voluntary manslaughter case against former officers Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez.
- Prosecutors said a three-second gap in body-camera footage during the 12-second encounter and conflicting accounts made it impossible to prove the officers lacked a reasonable fear of imminent harm.
- Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, 23, sat in a reported stolen Honda holding an air rifle that he did not point at officers, and he was killed after three shots were fired.
- The case moved from Jackie Lacey’s clearance to a 2023 grand jury indictment under George Gascón, then to a review under Hochman that faulted special prosecutor Lawrence Middleton for not giving exculpatory evidence and for misstating the law to jurors.
- Mitchell’s family, which received a $7.8 million civil settlement in 2022, denounced the ruling as police-accountability groups linked the case to racist text messages by Torrance officers and signaled plans to keep pressing for reforms.