A Los Angeles County judge made the rare decision to reject a negotiated plea agreement Friday that would have allowed a sheriff’s deputy to avoid jail time on assault charges stemming from the 2021 shooting death of a suicidal man outside his family’s East L.A. home.
Judge Michael Pastor refused to accept the deal — which would have seen Deputy Remin Pineda receive probation and give up his right to be a cop in California — after hearing emotional pleas from the family of 34-year-old David Ordaz Jr., who was shot to death by four deputies while holding a knife and asking police to kill him in March 2021.
“I am furious that our system allows Pineda to walk around like nothing happened. What about David?” asked his oldest sister, Hilda Pedroza, during a series of tearful victim impact statements delivered in court Friday. “David doesn’t get to walk like he does. If the tables were turned, David would be put in jail in a second.”
Pineda was charged with assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority last year. Prosecutors determined they didn’t have enough evidence to charge two other deputies who shot Ordaz Jr., and said a third acted in lawful self-defense. But Pineda’s use of force was excessive, according to L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Guy Shirley, who said the deputy continued shooting even after Ordaz Jr. was on the ground and fired at least one round after he dropped the knife.
Steven Alvarado, an attorney representing Pineda, declined to comment after the hearing. The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the other deputies involved in Ordaz Jr.’s death. Pineda is due back in court in December.
“We continue to believe that the charges are substantiated by the evidence and are prepared to move forward with a preliminary hearing and trial,” said Venusse Navid, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. “Beyond that, it would be inappropriate to comment as the…