A knife and a marijuana pipe figure heavily into arguments by family members of Ernesto Duenez in connection with their $25 million federal court lawsuit resulting from his death in an encounter with Manteca Police.

Eight months after Duenez was shot and killed during a confrontation in the 200 block of Flores Street just southwest of Doctors Hospital, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office has yet to determine whether the shooting was justified.

The family is also pressing the district attorney as well as the federal Department of Justice to file criminal charges.

The Manteca City Council is scheduled to meet behind closed doors tonight to discuss the lawsuit against the city. No public comments are expected afterwards.

Duenez’ brother Gabriel Duenez - or his attorney - is expected to be in the Manteca branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court today when a judge determines whether a temporary restraining order against him should be made permanent or be lifted. The Manteca Police Officers Association got a temporary restraining order against Gabriel Duenez. The MPOA contends Gabriel Duenez has been harassing two officers - Josh Moody who fired the fatal shots and Armen Avakian - as well as Avakian’s family.

Gabriel Duenez is active in Lathrop where he is a coach for the Lathrop Little League and has served on their board of directors. He also has coached for the Lathrop Community Center’s baseball league. In 1999, Gabriel Duenez was lauded by the CHP for pulling two young boys from a car that had rolled several times on Interstate 5 and had killed their mother.

The lawsuit essentially contends officers used excessive force for the situation and failed to secure medical help in a timely manner. Manteca Police have dispute both points indicating that once a dashboard video in Moody’s patrol unit that captured the incident is released to the public it will prove their point. Attorney John L. Burris - who represents the Duenez family - also contends the video footage proves points made in the lawsuit.

The video remains under protective order. That order, though, authorizes Duenez;’ attorney to describe what’s depicted in the video as well as statements by witnesses and officers involved. The family attorneys describe the video as “surreal and deeply disturbing” as well as being “clear and unobstructed.”

The knife and a marijuana pipe play pivotal roles in what happened on June 8, according to court filings on behalf of the Duenez family.



A rundown of what the court filing contends happened on June 8

The court filing notes:

• Duenez had asked a recent acquaintance of his - Rudy Camarena - for a ride to another person’s house to pick up various items he had left there.

• The homeowner said Duenez had dropped a knife on the ground as he retrieved his property.

• After Duenez got back into Camarena’s pickup, the homeowner brought the knife out to the truck.

• The homeowner said Duenez accepted the knife and one of them - either Duenez or Camarena - tossed the knife into the bed of the pickup where it was not accessible from inside the cab where Camarena’s wife, Duenez and Camarena were seated.

• The homeowner then called police and told them Duenez was armed with a knife

• That report was subsequently relayed by dispatch to police.

• The three returned to the Camarena residence later with Duenez seated in the small back seat of the two-door pickup.

• Duenez’s wife Whitney was inside the residence.

• After Camarena parked his pickup in his yard, Moody pulled behind them in his patrol car and activated his red lights and siren.

• Duenez, who was in the back seat, began to try and exit the truck while Camarena and his wife remained in the truck.

• The truck’s ignition was turned off.

• Duenez pushed Camarena’s wife forward as he began to exit the truck. He stepped his left foot out of the truck.

• Duenez’s right foot became entangled in the seat belt.

• Duenez’s hands were up.

• Duenez held a dark colored object in one hand that the legal filing states was likely the glass marijuana-smoking pipe later found at the scene.

• Moody ran around the driver’s side of his patrol vehicle while yelling for Duenez to put his hands up.

• Duenez was in the process of getting out of the truck with one hand on the cab of the truck and one hand on the open passenger door of the truck, with the dark object in the hand on the cab of the truck.

• This was taking place with Duenez and the officer 15 feet from each other.

• Moody ordered Duenez to “drop the knife now.”

• 13 gun shots were fired.

• “About” four gunshots occurred after Duenez had fallen to the ground.

• Time elapsed from the officer exiting the patrol car until the shooting started was 6.6 seconds.

• After the shooting, a knife was located in the rear of the pickup truck.

• No object from Duenez’ traveled into the bed of the pickup truck at any time based on what is depicted in the video footage, according to the court filing.



Court filing says Duenez feared he had tested positive for drug use

Manteca Police - prior to the city’s legal counsel clamping down on the case being discussed due to the lawsuit - indicated Duenez had made a threatening movement out of the pickup truck toward the officer.

The lawsuit contends Manteca Police relied on information passed to them wrongfully that Duenez was armed, besides the call from the homeowner who returned the knife Duenez dropped. The filing also states Moody had information that Duenez stored a gun in his buttocks. It also states what Moody told investigators that information he received from dispatch was simply that Duenez was involved in an altercation with some woman and had a knife on his person but had not threatened anyone.

Duenez was on parole at the time he was killed. He was set to be discharged from parole a month after he was killed. The court filing states Duenez believed he may have tested positive on a drug test and that he possibly had a warrant for violating parole due “to the likely positive drug test.”