(KRON) — The three Alameda police officers charged in the death of Mario Gonzalez were back in court Friday.
Pair convicted in 2017 Twin Peaks murder of elderly photographer
Their lawyers argued a “procedural snafu” by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office should lead to the dismissal of all three involuntary manslaughter charges.
Gonzalez was killed in police custody three years ago. His mother, Edith Arenales, was outside Alameda County Superior Court on Friday, pleading for a judge to look past the technical error and move forward with the involuntary manslaughter charges against the officers.
“He was alive. He’s a human. My son, he was a human,” cried Arenales. “They criminals. They was working, yeah, with uniforms but they need to pay. They need to pay. They kill a human. They kill my son…I need justice for my son.”
It started with a welfare check and turned violent when officers threw Gonzalez to the ground and put pressure on his body, which an autopsy says contributed to his death.