Rally for Mario Gonzalez demands justice outside Alameda officer's court appearance
The one remaining Alameda police officer being charged in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez appeared in court Friday morning.
A group of Gonzalez's friends, family, and supporters gathered outside the courthouse to continue their fight for justice.
"It's a shame. It's disgraceful but we are not going to stop, we are going to continue," said family friend Amanda Majail-Blanco,
Majail-Blanco is referring to an Alameda County judge's decision to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges against two Alameda police officers in the death of Gonzalez.
The judge ruled prosecutors didn't file the paperwork needed to bring charges against the officers within the three-year statute of limitations.
The case against the third officer, Erik McKinley, can continue because a five-month mission trip to South Africa paused his three-year period.
"I hope something comes good out of pursuing McKinley," said Majail-Blanco. "I hope they do hold him accountable. Those officers that walked we are going to blast their faces everywhere."
Gonzalez died in April of 2021 at the age of 26 after he stopped breathing during an arrest. Body camera footage showed officers restrained him on the ground face down with at least one officer pressing his elbow and knee inot Gonzales's back for several minutes.
In April 2022, then district attorney Nancy O'Malley declined to prosecute the officers siting no evidence of wrong-doing.
The official coroner's report said, "the cause of death is the toxic effects of methamphetamine, with the physiologic stress of altercation and restraint, morbid obesity, and alcoholism contributing to the process of dying."
Last April, current DA Pamela Price announced her office would charge the officers with involuntary manslaughter.
"This is a scenario that should never happen," said legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark.
Clark says there are certain timelines prosecutors need to follow and there's no good excuse for missing the deadline. He believes the prosecutors mistake could have unexpected consequences.
"The jurors may wonder why is he being selected and there's two empty chairs of other officers, so I think it will actually work to Officer McKinley's benefit," said Clark.
He believes there's a chance both could still end up in the courtroom, in a different capacity.
"Will these two officers, now that they will not be charged and cannot be charged, come forward as witnesses for their brother officer?" asked Clark.
Majail-Blanco was visibly emotional as she talked about Gonzalez.
Gonzalez's mother, Edith, was so distraught she couldn't make it to court. Despite that, they have decided to remain hopeful about the future.
"I'm going to try to be confident about it, because that's really all we can do as support for the family and as an advocate. And if Edith was here, I'm sure she would say she has a lot of faith in God in holding this man accountable and have justice," said Majail-Blanco.
McKinley will enter his plea on Friday, October 25.