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Fresno, California \u2013 The family of Christopher Walker, a father of ten-year-old twins who was struck and killed by Fresno Police Officer David Hutchason, has secured a $3.25 million settlement with the City of Fresno. The resolution follows discovery that contradicted the City\u2019s initial claim that Walker stepped into the roadway while heavily intoxicated.<\/p>\n
Walker was walking home on a dimly lit Fresno County road when he was hit by Officer Hutchason, who was on duty but not responding to a call. While early reports framed the crash as unavoidable, evidence obtained during litigation revealed that Hutchason was driving above the speed limit and distracted by his cell phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Fresno Police Department chose to investigate the fatal collision internally rather than bringing in an outside agency. During that investigation, critical body-camera footage was not recorded, key conversations went undocumented, and Hutchason\u2019s work-issued phone \u2014 a likely source of distraction evidence \u2014 was discarded despite two preservation letters from plaintiffs\u2019 counsel.<\/p>\n
Forensic experts later challenged a postmortem toxicology report listing Walker\u2019s BAC at 0.26. Traumatic injury and the coroner\u2019s failure to collect vitreous humor fluid, a standard cross-check sample, rendered the result scientifically unreliable. Even if trace alcohol were present, experts concluded it would not have caused the collision.<\/p>\n