District Attorney to review in-custody death of Mario Gonzalez

Published on January 31, 2023

Today, the City of Alameda was notified that the newly elected District Attorney plans to review the death of Mario Gonzalez. Consistent with the City’s longstanding commitment to transparency and accountability, the City will cooperate fully with this review.

Previously, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office assembled a Critical Incident Team to conduct an investigation involving the in-custody death of Mr. Gonzalez. The Team focuses on whether there is evidence that a crime was committed and whether there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a law enforcement official committed a crime in connection with the in-custody death. The District Attorney’s Office released a report dated March 30, 2022 after comprehensively reviewing all of the evidence gathered, including the Coroner Investigator’s Report and Autopsy Report, and concluded that the officers involved in this incident are not criminally liable, stating that the evidence does not justify criminal charges against any law enforcement agency. The report stated that the officers’ decision to detain and arrest Mr. Gonzalez, and their subsequent use of force, was objectively reasonable considering agency policies, the totality of the circumstances, and the officers’ stated rationale.

An independent investigation, led by former San Francisco City Attorney and Supervisor Louise Renne of Renne Public Law Group, was launched by the City on April 23, 2021. That report was released to the public in May 2022 and found that no policy violations occurred. At the present time, two of the officers are assigned to desk duty, and the third has left the department.