Los Angeles County prosecutors unsealed an indictment Friday against a former LAPD officer responsible for the 2015 on-duty shooting of an unarmed man in Venice.<\/p>\n
The ex-cop, Clifford Proctor, pleaded not guilty to the charges during a brief hearing in a downtown courtroom.<\/p>\n
Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Proctor, 60, leaned over several times to whisper to his attorney but otherwise said little during the hearing, a portion of which was held behind closed doors. He waived a reading of the indictment. He will remain in custody with no bail, and is expected to return to court for a hearing early next month.<\/p>\n
The unsealing of the indictment is the latest step in a decade-long fight over whether Proctor should be charged with a crime for shooting Brendon Glenn in the back twice in Venice in 2015. Glenn, 29, was unarmed and involved in a dispute with a bar bouncer near the Venice Speedway when Proctor killed him. <\/p>\n
Glenn\u2019s killing sparked protests and outrage, and some of Proctor\u2019s own colleagues even questioned his decision to open fire. Former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called for Proctor to be charged with manslaughter, a recommendation then-Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey ignored when she declined to prosecute him in 2018. <\/p>\n
Glenn\u2019s family sued over the killing and received a $4-million settlement from the city in 2016.<\/a> <\/p>\n After winning the 2020 D.A.\u2019s race on a police accountability platform, George Gasc\u00f3n hired a special prosecutor to reexamine charges against several L.A. County law enforcement officers in on-duty killings, including Glenn\u2019s. <\/p>\n Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who ousted Gasc\u00f3n in a landslide last November, fired the special prosecutor, Lawrence Middleton, shortly after taking office. On Friday, both Hochman and Proctor\u2019s attorney invoked Lacey\u2019s past decision not to file charges. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office, under then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey, issued an 83-page report in March 2018 that concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove Proctor acted unlawfully when he used deadly force,\u201d the office said in a statement. \u201cAs the indictment has now been unsealed, District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman will be reviewing the case and will make a determination at a later date whether to proceed with the prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n Proctor\u2019s lawyer, Anthony \u201cTony\u201d Garcia, also questioned the timing of the charges, noting that prosecutors \u201cdetermined there was nothing to proceed\u201d back in 2018.<\/p>\n Middleton did not respond to a request for comment. Gasc\u00f3n said in a text message that the \u201cindictment speaks for itself.\u201d <\/p>\n Proctor was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport last week<\/a> when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents noticed he had an active warrant. Proctor has been living abroad for several years, according to sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about the pending case. Last year, sources told The Times<\/a> that a warrant had been issued for Proctor\u2019s arrest near the end of Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s term. <\/p>\n Proctor resigned from the LAPD in 2017. While still with the department, he shot and killed Glenn after a dispute outside of a Venice bar in 2015. Glenn and his dog had been kicked out of the Bank of Venice restaurant for causing a disturbance. <\/p>\n Proctor, who had been with the department about seven years at the time, and Glenn got into an argument and the officer ordered Glenn to leave the area. Glenn responded by hurling several racial epithets at Proctor. Both men are Black, according to court records. <\/p>\n Glenn then got into an argument with a bouncer outside of a different bar, and Proctor and his partner moved to make an arrest. During the ensuing struggle, Proctor shot Glenn twice in the back. Proctor alleged Glenn reached for his partner\u2019s gun, but footage from the scene appeared to contradict that claim.<\/p>\n Glenn\u2019s hand was never seen \u201con or near any portion\u201d of the holster, according to a report made by the city\u2019s Police Commission in 2016,<\/a> and Proctor\u2019s partner never made \u201cany statements or actions\u201d suggesting Glenn was trying to take the gun. <\/p>\n The commission ruled that Proctor had violated the LAPD\u2019s rules on deadly force, and a subsequent Internal Affairs investigation found him guilty of improperly shooting Glenn and then lying about it to investigators. He was directed to a board-of-rights disciplinary hearing \u2014 an indication the department is seeking to fire him \u2014 although it\u2019s unclear what the resulting verdict was.<\/p>\n