WASHINGTON — The highest court in the United States has chosen not to hear a case centered around a man's death in 2017 by a Charlotte police officer, meaning the case will go to trial.
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in the ongoing case against the city government and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department filed by the estate of Reuben Galindo. Lawyers for the city had filed a petition for the court to hear the case in December 2023, while the attorney for Galindo's estate filed an opposing motion in late January 2024.
The court has not issued any opinions tied to its order denying certiorari. This case was among several the court chose not to hear.
"They reject them all the time for a variety of reasons, they can only take on so many," Gary Mauney, an attorney not associated with this case, said.
Galindo was killed in September 2017 during an encounter with two CMPD officers. He had called 911, told a Spanish-speaking dispatcher he had been drinking alcohol, wanted to turn himself in for a court date, and said he had a gun. He also requested a Spanish-speaking officer.
CMPD said the officers who responded ordered Galindo to drop his weapon several times. When he didn't, the department said officers saw it as a threat and shot him.
“There’s a language barrier, there’s also a mental illness barrier going on here," Mauney, said.
Mauney says moving forward, a jury will decide who was in the wrong the night of the shooting.
"Whether the police officer did the right thing or if the family is entitled to damages," Mauney said.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2019 said one of the officers, identified as David Guerra, gave Galindo the commands in English despite knowing Galindo spoke Spanish. The lawsuit also said the city was negligent for improperly training officers in using deadly force without giving time to follow "drop the weapon" commands.
In the wake of the shooting, a WCNC Charlotte investigation found there was only one bilingual officer for every 1,700 Hispanic people in Mecklenburg County. CMPD said at the time it had 75 bilingual officers out of 1,800 -- roughly four percent of its force. But Hispanics made up 13% of the population, according to Census estimates.
Meanwhile, Hector Vaca, a Latino advocate for Action NC, says this decision is a victory for the community and CMPD needs to be held accountable.
“They should accept responsibility instead of finding ways to get out of it,” Vaca said.
With a growing Hispanic population, Vaca says there's also a need for more Spanish-speaking officers.
“We need more competence, and we need better interpretation and people from our community," Vaca said.
Guerra and his fellow officer on the call, Courtney Suggs, were cleared by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office of criminal wrongdoing and placed fault on Galindo.
However, the wrongful death suit went on. While U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad sided with the city, the case was appealed and heard in December 2022. It was one of two cases involving deadly CMPD officer-involved shootings heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Two of the three judges empaneled in the appeals court chose to partially vacate Conrad's ruling. While they still upheld the city of Charlotte wasn't negligent with the officers' training, they vacated Conrad's other findings that favored the city. Chief among the vacated findings was that Guerra was granted qualified immunity in response to a claim that Galindo's Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The judges also reversed summary judgment awards favoring Guerra on claims of assault and battery, wrongful death caused by negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.