FULLERTON, Calif. — After witnessing the shooting and death of his friend by a police officer in 2020, Bill Brown hoped the Orange County District Attorney would release a report that would include charges against the police officer.
“There was no way he was going to be able to not file charges because it was clear in the videos,” said Brown, a Fullerton city resident and member of the Justice for Hector Hernandez coalition.
However, District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s office says it won’t file charges against Fullerton Police Department’s Corporal Jonathan Ferrell, who wore a body camera the night he responded to a 911 call and ordered his dog to attack Hector Hernandez, a 34-year-old dad, before he followed up with gunshots.
“They set him up for failure and the K9 officer basically was the judge, the jury and the executioner,” said Brown.
He lived four doors down from Hernandez’s home for 18 years. Their kids grew up together and their families vacationed together.
On May 27, 2020, authorities were called to Hernandez’s home after his step-son called to say he had been drinking and threatened family members with a knife and fired off a gun from within the home. The police considered Hernandez a threat, but his neighbors who were present during the police response say Hernandez complied with orders and wasn’t a threat to officers.
In District Attorney Spitzer’s letter to Fullerton Police Chief Robert Dunn concludes that based on a review of evidence, “it is our legal opinion that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt any criminal culpability on the part of Corporal Ferrell when he shot and killed Hernandez on May 27, 2020. Accordingly, the OCDA is closing its inquiry into this incident.”
Brown and members of a coalition established to seek justice for Hernandez say they don’t agree with some of the points included in the DA's report.
Since Hernandez’s death, Brown has spoken passionately to city leaders, protested and organized a press conference at his home where he invited Attorney Garo Mardirossian, who is representing Hernandez’s two sons in a civil lawsuit, to speak.
“He was in this position the whole time, both hands all the way up in the air. It’s a position of surrendering,” said Mardirossian while showing freeze frames of the police officers body cam video. The attorney is known for taking on landmark cases against law enforcement agencies.
Years ago, he represented Ron Thomas, the father of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man diagnosed with schizophrenia who was beaten into a coma by Fullerton Police officers. Caught on a surveillance camera, Kelly could be heard screaming for help from his dad and that he couldn’t breathe many times. The beating brought national and international attention and Mardirossian says there are similarities in these two cases and the men who demanded justice.
“Kelly Thomas gave his life. He was tortured to death," Mardirossian said. "Hector Hernandez gave his life. So there’s no bringing him back. The justice we get is so that these things don’t happen again in the future so that you and I or anyone else isn’t subjected to excessive force."
He says there’s a conflict when any district attorney investigates a potential wrongdoing done by an officer.
“Everyday they have to use that same department, that same police department to come and testify for them to put bad guys away. So the real investigation should’ve been done by a real independent group,” Mardirossian said.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the Fullerton Police Department and the DA's office. Both have said they can’t comment due to pending litigation.
Friends and family asked Brown when he’s going to stop pushing for justice.
“I don’t see the end of things right now, but I know we have resources we haven’t exhausted yet,” Brown said.
His coalition is asking the state’s attorney general to look into this case. In the meantime, Brown will continue to speak up on behalf of Hector Hernandez, who isn’t here to speak for himself.