Modesto council hears pleas not to rehire officer cleared in shooting. He had one defender
The Modesto City Council heard often-heated protests Tuesday night about the fatal police shooting of Trevor Seever. One man was escorted from the council chamber by police after loudly and profanely stating his case.
The people were reacting to the July 21 court ruling that former officer Joseph Lamantia will not be tried for voluntary manslaughter.
Just one Lamantia supporter spoke, a woman who said over Zoom that the December 2020 shooting was justified.
Several speakers said they feared that Lamantia would be rehired. He was terminated in March 2021 for violating the Police Department’s use-of-force policy in the shooting.
“This city should not allow this individual to return back to the city of Modesto Police Department, period,” said Samuel White-Ephraim, a leader with the NAACP of Modesto/Stanislaus.
With charges dropped, Lamantia may seek job back
Lamantia appealed his termination, but an administrative hearing was stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case, according to his attorney Roger Wilson. Now that the charge against Lamantia has been dismissed, arbitration can proceed, Wilson said.
Seever was shot on the grounds of the Church of the Brethren on Woodland Avenue. Investigators said he previously had posted on social media about wanting to kill police and had purchased a gun the day before.
Seever’s family said he was in a mental health crisis but did not pose a threat. No gun was found on him after he was shot by Lamantia. The city agreed this April to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit from the family.
Lamantia underwent a preliminary hearing to determine whether he should face a manslaughter trial. Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Carrie Stephens ruled that Lamantia had a reasonable fear for his safety when he shot Seever.
This was noted by Meghan Tazir, who during Tuesday’s council meeting identified herself as a friend of Lamantia’s. She also mentioned the Seever family’s settlement of the civil suit.
“Perhaps if they are so outraged that no accountability had been taken, they should give that money back,” Tazir said.
Seever’s death helped prompt the creation in May of a new system for monitoring police. It includes a nine-member volunteer board and a law firm that reviews how the department investigates officer-involved shootings and other “critical incidents.”
During periods of public comment at its meetings, the City Council continues to hear complaints about police shootings. The speakers are limited to five minutes.
A man who identified himself only as Stephen continued to shout after Mayor Sue Zwahlen noted he had reached the limit. Two police officers already on hand for security asked him to leave the chamber.
“I live in a town where murderers are aided and abetted by politicians,” he said on his way out.
Some of the recent council protests have involved Paul Chavez Jr., shot and killed in July 2022. Officer Sam Muncy was later cleared by the District Attorney’s Office.
Teresa Clutter, Chavez’s mother-in-law, joined in the protest against Lamantia. “Do not re-employ this man,” she said over Zoom. “Do not give him the right to kill again freely and without consequence.”
Ex-officer could be decertified
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) also has the authority to decertify peace officers for acts of serious misconduct. That would bar them from being hired by any other agency in the state that participates in the POST program, the vast majority of which do.
The commission’s power to decertify officers took effect Jan. 1 under Senate Bill 2. Acts of serious misconduct include excessive use of force or failing to intervene when witnessing another officer using excessive force; lying or abusing power in an investigation; demonstrating bias or participating in a law enforcement gang; and sexual assault.
Modesto Police spokeswoman Sharon Bear said Lamantia’s case was sent to the commission in May and it has three years to make a decision.
The commission has a growing list of over 50 current or former officers whose certifications have either been suspended or revoked or given up voluntarily. Lamantia was not on that list of Thursday.
Wilson said, “A decision by POST to decertify Officer Lamantia should not occur until Officer Lamantia has exhausted his administrative hearing process. A hearing officer has the authority to modify and even dismiss alleged policy violations raised by the Department.”
Those hearings can take months or even more than a year.
The commission estimated it will field more than 16,000 reports of serious misconduct per year and that about 3,500 will have sustained findings, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
