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Ex-Danville deputy Andrew Hall sentenced to six years in prison for assault in Laudemer Arboleda's death

'The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust', judge says

Andrew Hall, the former Danville police officer who shot and killed unarmed motorist Laudemer Arboleda to end a slow-speed pursuit in 2018, was sentenced to six years in state prison Friday by a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge in Martinez.

Andrew Hall. (Photo by Harika Maddala/Bay City News)

Because he was convicted of a violent felony -- assault with a firearm -- Hall must spend at least 85% of his sentence in prison before being eligible for parole, or 5.1 years.

"The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust," Judge Terri Mockler said, adding that Arboleda "did not deserve to die for evading a police officer. That is really the crux of this. While he may have violated the law, it was no law that carried a sentence of death for him."

Hall's attorney Harry Stern objected to the description of a death sentence, considering the jury chose not to convict Hall on a manslaughter charge, to which Mockler conceded, "Point well taken. But the point is he did not deserve to die."

Jurors found Hall guilty of assault but deadlocked on the manslaughter count following a nearly three-week trial last October.

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Hall -- who is still under investigation for another on-duty fatal shooting in 2021 -- received three years for the assault with a firearm charge itself, plus another three for the enhancement of inflicting great bodily harm. He could've received another three years for the use of the firearm, which Mockler dismissed, saying it was already factored into the original charge.

Hall shot and killed 33-year-old Arboleda at the end of a slow-speed police pursuit in Danville on Nov, 3, 2018. He shot him nine times as the Newark man pulled away at 6 mph.

Officers trailed Arboleda after someone called police to report Arboleda knocked on their door. Arboleda, whose family said he was hospitalized earlier that year for mental illness, pulled over multiple times, only to drive away from police. At one point, officers drew their guns without shooting as Arboleda drove away.

Hall was only involved at the very end, when he pulled in front of Arboleda at the corner of Front and Diablo streets. He exited his car and stood near the Honda's front right side. As Arboleda tried pulling away, Hall discharged his weapon 10 times, hitting Arboleda with nine bullets. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hall's lawyers said the officer was only trying to protect himself from an oncoming vehicle, though video shows that many of the shots came from the vehicle's passenger side as Arboleda tried driving away. The car ended up crossing Diablo Road and colliding with an oncoming car.

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Mockler took issue with a report from the county's Probation Department, as well as a sentencing memo from the defense, both of which she said left out "critical evidence" from the trial. Some of that evidence included testimony from other officers that Hall didn't communicate to them he was joining the situation, and that a supervisor on the scene, located on the other side of Arboleda's car, felt endangered by Hall's gunfire.

Mockler also said the reports ignored expert testimony saying it wasn't clear which shot was the chest shot they said killed Arboleda. That is pertinent because the car was moving as Hall fired the shots, which Mockler pointed out was also against Sheriff's Office policy.

At that point, Stern asked if he could approach the bench, to which Mockler said "no."

Mockler said the probation report also left out testimony saying Hall was trained not to fire into a moving vehicle, as doing so makes "the vehicle a guided missile, which is exactly what happened," when it crossed the street and struck a vehicle driven by an elderly woman.

An initial investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, with which Danville contracts for police services, cleared Hall of wrongdoing.

Charges weren't filed in the Arboleda case until Hall made more news by shooting and killing another man in March 2021 in Danville, when he killed 32-year-old transient Tyrell Wilson near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate 680.

The two fatal shootings by Hall are the only police-involved shootings of any kind on record in Danville since 2001.

Police say Wilson approached Hall with a knife, which seems to be confirmed in bodycam video. Authorities are still investigating the Wilson shooting, and no charges have been filed.

Mockler earlier ruled the Wilson case couldn't be used against Hall during the Arboleda trial.

Arboleda's family members were under no such constraints Friday when speaking to Mockler before she handed down the sentence. Arboleda's mother Jeannie Atienza called him a "murderer and a serial killer."

"Hall violated his civil rights," Atienza said. "He killed, and overkilled, my son because he was a brown man in the white city of Danville."

Shortly after the October verdict, Contra Costa County agreed to pay $4.9 million to Arboleda's family to settle a lawsuit.

Following the sentencing hearing Friday, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton called the prison sentence "reflective of the gravity of the crime Dep Hall" when he "unreasonably shot" Arboleda.

"Deputy's Hall's actions were dangerous, unreasonable, and excessive. In sentencing the defendant to prison, the Court recognized the need for accountability in Deputy Hall's decision to fire multiple times at Laudemer Aboleda (sic), taking his life," Becton said in a written statement released by her office.

"No sentence imposed will bring Laudemer Aboleda (sic) back to his family," the DA's statement added. "The sentence imposed today is proportionate to the egregious shooting committed by a law enforcement officer who took the life of one man, and in doing so endangered the lives of his fellow officers and civilians."

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston's office also issued a public statement Friday, confirming Hall's termination and the logistics of his transfer to prison.

Livingston, who had cleared Hall of wrongdoing in the Arboleda shooting and also argued the Wilson shooting was justifiable self-defense, previously criticized Becton's decision to prosecute his deputy and said he'd hoped for a not guilty verdict at trial.

"(We are) aware that Andrew Hall was sentenced today and later remanded into custody," Livingston's office said Friday, "Hall will be booked and transported to Solano County jail; details on where he will serve any remaining time of his sentence will be disclosed when available. Due to state law requirements about felony convictions, the Sheriff's Office had no choice but to serve Hall with a notice for termination. That was done immediately after sentencing."

The town of Danville declined to comment when contacted Friday, deferring to the sheriff's office.

Editor's note: DanvilleSanRamon.com editor Jeremy Walsh contributed to this story.

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Ex-Danville deputy Andrew Hall sentenced to six years in prison for assault in Laudemer Arboleda's death

'The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust', judge says

by Tony Hicks / BCN Foundation /

Uploaded: Fri, Mar 4, 2022, 10:53 am
Updated: Sun, Mar 6, 2022, 3:43 pm

Andrew Hall, the former Danville police officer who shot and killed unarmed motorist Laudemer Arboleda to end a slow-speed pursuit in 2018, was sentenced to six years in state prison Friday by a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge in Martinez.

Because he was convicted of a violent felony -- assault with a firearm -- Hall must spend at least 85% of his sentence in prison before being eligible for parole, or 5.1 years.

"The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust," Judge Terri Mockler said, adding that Arboleda "did not deserve to die for evading a police officer. That is really the crux of this. While he may have violated the law, it was no law that carried a sentence of death for him."

Hall's attorney Harry Stern objected to the description of a death sentence, considering the jury chose not to convict Hall on a manslaughter charge, to which Mockler conceded, "Point well taken. But the point is he did not deserve to die."

Jurors found Hall guilty of assault but deadlocked on the manslaughter count following a nearly three-week trial last October.

Hall -- who is still under investigation for another on-duty fatal shooting in 2021 -- received three years for the assault with a firearm charge itself, plus another three for the enhancement of inflicting great bodily harm. He could've received another three years for the use of the firearm, which Mockler dismissed, saying it was already factored into the original charge.

Hall shot and killed 33-year-old Arboleda at the end of a slow-speed police pursuit in Danville on Nov, 3, 2018. He shot him nine times as the Newark man pulled away at 6 mph.

Officers trailed Arboleda after someone called police to report Arboleda knocked on their door. Arboleda, whose family said he was hospitalized earlier that year for mental illness, pulled over multiple times, only to drive away from police. At one point, officers drew their guns without shooting as Arboleda drove away.

Hall was only involved at the very end, when he pulled in front of Arboleda at the corner of Front and Diablo streets. He exited his car and stood near the Honda's front right side. As Arboleda tried pulling away, Hall discharged his weapon 10 times, hitting Arboleda with nine bullets. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hall's lawyers said the officer was only trying to protect himself from an oncoming vehicle, though video shows that many of the shots came from the vehicle's passenger side as Arboleda tried driving away. The car ended up crossing Diablo Road and colliding with an oncoming car.

Mockler took issue with a report from the county's Probation Department, as well as a sentencing memo from the defense, both of which she said left out "critical evidence" from the trial. Some of that evidence included testimony from other officers that Hall didn't communicate to them he was joining the situation, and that a supervisor on the scene, located on the other side of Arboleda's car, felt endangered by Hall's gunfire.

Mockler also said the reports ignored expert testimony saying it wasn't clear which shot was the chest shot they said killed Arboleda. That is pertinent because the car was moving as Hall fired the shots, which Mockler pointed out was also against Sheriff's Office policy.

At that point, Stern asked if he could approach the bench, to which Mockler said "no."

Mockler said the probation report also left out testimony saying Hall was trained not to fire into a moving vehicle, as doing so makes "the vehicle a guided missile, which is exactly what happened," when it crossed the street and struck a vehicle driven by an elderly woman.

An initial investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, with which Danville contracts for police services, cleared Hall of wrongdoing.

Charges weren't filed in the Arboleda case until Hall made more news by shooting and killing another man in March 2021 in Danville, when he killed 32-year-old transient Tyrell Wilson near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate 680.

The two fatal shootings by Hall are the only police-involved shootings of any kind on record in Danville since 2001.

Police say Wilson approached Hall with a knife, which seems to be confirmed in bodycam video. Authorities are still investigating the Wilson shooting, and no charges have been filed.

Mockler earlier ruled the Wilson case couldn't be used against Hall during the Arboleda trial.

Arboleda's family members were under no such constraints Friday when speaking to Mockler before she handed down the sentence. Arboleda's mother Jeannie Atienza called him a "murderer and a serial killer."

"Hall violated his civil rights," Atienza said. "He killed, and overkilled, my son because he was a brown man in the white city of Danville."

Shortly after the October verdict, Contra Costa County agreed to pay $4.9 million to Arboleda's family to settle a lawsuit.

Following the sentencing hearing Friday, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton called the prison sentence "reflective of the gravity of the crime Dep Hall" when he "unreasonably shot" Arboleda.

"Deputy's Hall's actions were dangerous, unreasonable, and excessive. In sentencing the defendant to prison, the Court recognized the need for accountability in Deputy Hall's decision to fire multiple times at Laudemer Aboleda (sic), taking his life," Becton said in a written statement released by her office.

"No sentence imposed will bring Laudemer Aboleda (sic) back to his family," the DA's statement added. "The sentence imposed today is proportionate to the egregious shooting committed by a law enforcement officer who took the life of one man, and in doing so endangered the lives of his fellow officers and civilians."

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston's office also issued a public statement Friday, confirming Hall's termination and the logistics of his transfer to prison.

Livingston, who had cleared Hall of wrongdoing in the Arboleda shooting and also argued the Wilson shooting was justifiable self-defense, previously criticized Becton's decision to prosecute his deputy and said he'd hoped for a not guilty verdict at trial.

"(We are) aware that Andrew Hall was sentenced today and later remanded into custody," Livingston's office said Friday, "Hall will be booked and transported to Solano County jail; details on where he will serve any remaining time of his sentence will be disclosed when available. Due to state law requirements about felony convictions, the Sheriff's Office had no choice but to serve Hall with a notice for termination. That was done immediately after sentencing."

The town of Danville declined to comment when contacted Friday, deferring to the sheriff's office.

Editor's note: DanvilleSanRamon.com editor Jeremy Walsh contributed to this story.

Comments

Paul Clark
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 4, 2022 at 11:23 am
Paul Clark, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 4, 2022 at 11:23 am

Here are the as yet to be investigated issues:

"An initial investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office -- with which Danville contracts for police service -- cleared Hall of wrongdoing."

Just who is going to investigate the Sheriff as to who decided that Hall didn't do
anything wrong?
And then there's this:
"Charges weren't filed in the Arboleda case until Hall made more news by shooting and killed another man in March 2021 in Danville, when he killed 32-year-old transient Tyrell Wilson near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate 680."

So the question here is where was our District Attorney on this matter until it became painfully obvious that Hall acted improperly not once, but most likely twice.

And also,

"Shortly after the October verdict, Contra Costa County agreed to pay $4.9 million to Arboleda's family to settle a lawsuit."

So we, the taxpayers have to suck up a nearly $5 million bill.

At the end of the day those who caused this crime to go unpunished initially will most likely escape any penalties for their inaction. And I will bet you that Tyrell Wilson's family will also get a county taxpayer-funded payoff for his death. A lot of additional pain and expense would have been avoided if our government at several levels had done the right thing.


Steve White
Registered user
another community
on Mar 4, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Steve White , another community
Registered user
on Mar 4, 2022 at 12:28 pm

The judge in the case went to UC Berkeley, where she took Sociology and then to Hastings Law School. Sociology should be abolished, it is an anti-truth movement . There should be no departments of Sociology anywhere, and anyone who got an undergrad degree in it as a prerequisite to a law degree should have their law degree taken away. Law degrees should only be available to people who have completed study of a real subject first.
The DA in Contra Costa did not file charges until after this deputy shot someone else, who was rushing him with a knife. I have not seen her explain her actions.
The Contra Costa DA controversially hired a cop Kamala Harris had kept in her power circle when she went from SF DA to CA AG - Larry Wallace - after he was accused of sexual harassment in his CA DOJ job -
Many in the Contra Costa DA's office were upset by his hiring - they seem to assume Wallace was guilty - and of course, after seeing possible bad publicity, Harris dumped him rapidly - but after the media stopped reporting on it actively, Becton, Harris' buddy, hires him. His specialty was reportedly political corruption. It is interesting, in my view, to consider that Becton only got into office because the former DA Mark Peterson, resigned after he was charged by the AG. This enabled Becton to become DA without winning an election, but being appointed by the CC Board of Supervisors. Kamala Harris had left the AG"s office for the Senate a few months before. Her replacement was Xavier Becerra, who, in my view inexplicably, became Secretary of Health and Human Services.
So, did Becerra agree with Harris, to charge Peterson, so that he would be forced out, so her buddy Becton could take the job? And do any of those three- Harris, Becerra, or Becton, - owe Wallace some special favors? Was his job to get the dirt on Mark Peterson? And/or on all the many people who could have been appointed instead of Harris, Becerra, and Becton? ALL of them


Steve White
Registered user
another community
on Mar 4, 2022 at 12:49 pm
Steve White , another community
Registered user
on Mar 4, 2022 at 12:49 pm

All of them, in my view, are plotters - it seems very likely Becerra was put in the Biden cabinet because Harris wanted him - I can not find any indication of a previous connection between Biden and Becerra - Becerra has an Ivy League degree - Stanford - and he was a Congressman -but he was not much associated with health or medicine at any time I can find.
Looking at the timeline, the state quietly - VERY quietly it appears- settled the lawsuit by Wallace' former secretary for $400K in May 2017 (per Newsweek) and then Wallace was KEPT ON AT THE AG's OFFICE BY BECERRA - until the settlement came out in LATE 2018 - around 18 months later - Harris, the actual AG at the time the lawsuit was filed - denied knowing about it - and the media has let her get away with it, apparently.
I do not find it at all credible that Harris did not know about the lawsuit, which was filed when the #MeToo movement was at it's height, against one of the people she had pulled into the AG's office - this was not just some investigator working in a huge agency Harris happened to be the head of - though even a claim she did not know about such a lawsuit against a person she never met would not be at all credible. Someone would tell her, at least, they would unless they were positive she wanted plausible deniability. I also do not believe Becerra did not know about it. The settlement was in his administration.
This man either was very much loved by these folks - who seem, to me, incapable of much love if it conflicts with their ambitions - OR HE KNOWS TOO MUCH, and was told he needed to quit and lay low, but eventually, he would be compensated.


D
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 5, 2022 at 7:32 am
D, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 5, 2022 at 7:32 am

In the heat of the moment, Officer Hall made a decision, that Monday morning quarterbacks now contest. This should have simply been a civil matter, and not a criminal matter involving this officer who may have been civilly negligent, but did not do anything that warranted going to prison for over 5 years. Becton is a politician, not a DA, and there is nothing more dangerous than a DA who acts as a politician. She was caught lying and plagiarising her application for DA, which shows her lack of character and credibility. DA Becton is a much bigger threat to the safety of our community than this police officer.


Jennifer
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 5, 2022 at 10:38 am
Jennifer, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 5, 2022 at 10:38 am

Becton needs to go. Hall did make a decision in the heat of the moment, and if this keeps up, no one will want to be a police officer. We'll all be in trouble.


Bill
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 7, 2022 at 6:12 am
Bill, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 7, 2022 at 6:12 am

Hall was a bad cop for years and the brotherhood of blue just kept looking the other way. He nearly beat an inmate to death, had anger issues and loved the control that being a police officer provides. It is all those that covered for him that are culpable. This is why we need to rethink, reform policing in our communities.


Paul Clark
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 7, 2022 at 9:15 pm
Paul Clark, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 7, 2022 at 9:15 pm

Bill:
Isn't it an eye-opener that "D" and "Jennifer" have so little regard for human life! To think that someone regards the killing of another human being as "a civil matter" is completely astonishing, and could not be further from the truth. No one, cop or no cop, needs to empty his weapon into someone under the circumstances that existed with Mr. Arboleda. I don't have any "love" for our current DA. She appears to be more of a politician than the county's chief law enforcement officer. I remain concerned about the lack of process within the DA's office to exercise oversight on the conduct of all uniformed police officers. To allow the Sheriff's Office to give Officer Hall a pass on the killing of an unarmed citizen, then wait for him to do it again before acting, show's she isn't really fit to be DA. And "Jennifer," if we have to allow some of our cops to kill a few folks, in order to keep them on the job, then "we are already in trouble." You had better hope you never end up being a victim, or a victim's family member at the hands of a man like Hall. Then again, maybe you'd be "all in" to get five million bucks in exchange for the death of someone you loved. But for me, there isn't enough money in the world to pay for the needless loss of a loved one.
If "Real Justice" is to prevail here, Hall should tried for the death of his second victim too. Six years is a too small a price to be paid for killing someone without reason.


Malcolm Hex
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 8, 2022 at 12:41 am
Malcolm Hex, San Ramon
Registered user
on Mar 8, 2022 at 12:41 am

From Paul Clark: “Hall should be tried for the death of his second victim too. Six years is a too small a price to be paid for killing someone without reason.“

So, Deputy Hall killed the “victim” without a reason? Hey Paul, the “victim,” as you call him, had a knife. The “victim” had also taken two steps towards Deputy Hall - with knife.

Say Paul, if a man came at you with a knife, would you consider him a victim, or an assailant?


D
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 8, 2022 at 7:25 am
D, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 8, 2022 at 7:25 am

@Paul Clark: In 2021, 458 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the U.S., an increase of 55% from the number who died in 2020. How many letters or emails did you send mourning the "killing of another human being" for their lives? What is "completely astonishing" is your absolute lack of empathy for the incredibly dangerous and difficult job law enforcement officers do in risking their lives to protect complete strangers from harm.

Did this officer make the wrong judgment call in the heat of the moment in this particular case? Probably. However, what if the suspect, who refused multiple lawful requests to stop and sped off in his car toward other officers, hit and killed an officer or a civilian on the nearby sidewalk? He would have you and your ambulance chasing lawyer friends attacking him for not doing anything. Due to your anti-police rhetoric law enforcement officers can not win, and as Jennifer stated this is why there is a shortage of individuals joining the academy and pursuing law enforcement as a career.

Before you crucify the police with your Monday morning attacks, please attend a funeral of an officer who died in the line of duty, and try to look at the issues from their fellow officers point of view. Every day they have to make split second decisions in the heat of the moment, and they are human, and occasionally make the wrong decision. But to treat them as criminals for political gain of an immoral DA like Becton is wrong.


Robin Taylor
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 8, 2022 at 8:56 am
Robin Taylor, Danville
Registered user
on Mar 8, 2022 at 8:56 am

DA Becton is immoral? "D" would you please explain. You may have some important information.


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