10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, October 9, 2008
The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles will decide by December whether it will file federal criminal charges against a former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who was videotaped nearly three years ago shooting an unarmed man in Chino, a newly released federal court record shows.
Federal documents previously indicated the decision to file criminal charges against Ivory J. Webb Jr. would be made by May of this year.
On Jan. 29, 2006, a bystander videotaped Webb firing three rounds into Elio Carrion during a confrontation after a 100-mph car chase through a Chino neighborhood.
Carrion, a U.S. Air Force military policeman home on leave after serving in Iraq, was a passenger in the Corvette that Webb was chasing. He and the driver, Luis Fernando Escobedo, were legally drunk.
Carrion was shot in the leg, shoulder and chest.
Escobedo pleaded guilty to drunken driving and evading a police officer.
Webb was charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm.
The video, played repeatedly nationwide, shows Carrion refusing commands to cooperate. He was shot as he responded to an order to "get up."
Attorney Michael Schwartz told jurors at Webb's criminal trial in San Bernardino County Superior Court that Webb believed Carrion was lunging at him when he fired.
Carrion's attorney filed a federal civil suit in Los Angeles six months before Webb was acquitted of all charges on June 27, 2007.
In the latest document, U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright ordered attorneys to determine whether criminal charges would be filed by Dec. 8, the day before the federal civil rights trial is scheduled to begin in downtown Los Angeles.
On Thursday, U.S. Justice Department spokesman Thom Mrozek said the investigation remains open. He declined comment further.
Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com
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