UCI legal clinic urges South Pasadena officials to release records in police shooting of ‘ER’ actress Vanessa Marquez

More than a year after South Pasadena police officers shot and killed actress Vanessa Marquez in front of her home after she allegedly pointed a BB gun at the officers during a wellness check, details of the incident released to the public have been scarce.

Hoping to bridge that gap between the public and law enforcement is Mackenzie Anderson, a law student at the University of California, Irvine who, along with a classmate and professor, attended a South Pasadena City Council meeting on Wednesday and urged public officials to release various documents and records related to the Aug. 30, 2018 shooting.

“The South Pasadena community has been pleading for more information; they’re hurting,” Anderson said before the council members.

Anderson, who is a part of the school’s Civil Rights Litigation Clinic, is representing Cyndy Fujikawa, a filmmaker who is filming a documentary about Marquez’ life.

Last week, the legal clinic, on behalf of Fujikawa, submitted a public records request to the city. Among the records they requested were the names of the officers involved in the shooting, incident reports, police and witness statements, photographic evidence, and footage and audio from body cameras the officers wore during the shooting.

In February, attorneys representing Marquez’ family filed a $20 million wrongful death claim against the city, alleging that officers acted negligently and unlawfully during the incident that began as a wellness check call. The claim also accused city officials of keeping records related to the shooting under wraps. The status of the claim was not immediately known while a lawsuit has yet to be filed in the case.

“This is not only information they do have a right to, but it’s really information that can help in the process of finding out more information of what happened and be able to heal and move on and rebuild trust again,” Anderson said.

Anderson and the legal clinic are leaning on several free speech laws, including Senate Bill 1421, signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2018, which was, in part, intended to increase public transparency around police shootings.

Though Fujikawa’s request is pending, the city told the Southern California News Group that it would not release any records related to the shooting until the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office wraps up its own investigation. The DA’s office investigates for possible criminal conduct in all police shootings in the county.

“The city has no control over the length of time a criminal investigation conducted by outside agencies, including the District Attorney’s Office, may take,” said City Manager Stephanie DeWolfe in a prepared statement. “We will advise when these investigations have been completed and the records, with any required redactions, become available.”

DeWolfe previously has said the officers and the mental health clinician who was also present during the shooting, acted appropriately and made attempts to resolve the situation before firing on Marquez.

Anderson argued that regardless of a DA’s investigation, the city still owns the records and has control over them.

“Just because the DA is looking over the city’s records of the shooting does not mean that the city loses control of its own records,” Anderson wrote on behalf of Fujikawa in a letter presented to City Council.

Several of Marquez’ friends also attended the council meeting as a show of support for the records’ request.

The lack of answers in the shooting has made it difficult for friends and family to heal and move on, said Patricia Huerta, one of Marquez’ friends, who also spoke during the council meeting on Wednesday.

Exactly how their friend and relative, a passionate, caring woman who had battled various health and mobility issues, could pose a threat to two police officers, prompting them to shoot, is a question they are still struggling to wrap their heads around.

“None of the friends or family know exactly what went down that afternoon where her life was tragically lost, Huerta said, addressing elected officials during a South Pasadena City Council meeting on Wednesday. “So I’m here to plead on her behalf and for her friends and family so that we can move forward.”

She said release of the records would be a birthday gift to Marquez, who would have turned 51 on Saturday.

On the day of the shooting, three South Pasadena officers and a mental health professional responded to Marquez’ apartment on the 1100 block of Fremont Avenue after neighbors requested a wellness check.

The officers found Marquez lying on her bed, and at one point, she underwent what may have been a seizure, according to a coroner’s report, citing an interview with a Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective. After Marquez complained about not getting enough food, the clinician decided to place her on psychiatric hold, the report said. While doing so, Marquez allegedly took out a BB gun, prompting officers to retreat. The report said Marquez exited her apartment, pointed the fake gun and police, who then shot her multiple times. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The autopsy report showed that Marquez had two main bullet wounds, one to the back and one to the rear right hip area.

Marquez, who appeared in the TV show “ER” as Nurse Wendy Goldman and played Ana Delgado in “Stand and Deliver,” later died at a local hospital.