DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO
A judge ruled Friday that the city of San Diego violated the California Public Records Act by wrongly withholding records from a case in which San Diego police officers shot and struck an unarmed Black man with multiple bean bag rounds and twice sicced a police dog on him.
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San Diego Superior Court Judge Terrie Roberts ordered the city to disclose the records by July 17 to the First Amendment Coalition. The free-speech organization sued the city last year over its alleged refusal to release body-worn camera footage and other records from the October 2024 incident in which officers used force on Marcus Evans outside an Encanto home.
The First Amendment Coalition contended that by withholding the records, the city violated the state Public Records Act as well as a portion of the state Constitution and a state law that controls which law enforcement records must legally be released.
“The Court agrees,” Roberts wrote in a tentative ruling that she confirmed and finalized during a hearing Friday.
She wrote in the ruling that the city was essentially asking her to “undermine” the state public records laws’ central purpose of “promoting public access and police transparency. The Court declines to do so.”
David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said the ruling was a win for all Californians.
“I’m glad that the court properly ruled in our favor, and most importantly, in the public’s favor,” Loy said outside of court Friday. “This is about the people’s right to know. The city is free to take the position it took, but the court was absolutely correct that the people have a right to full disclosure of all relevant records in this case.”
Loy said the public has “an especially compelling right to disclosure of all records and information when there is a very significant use of force.”
A San Diego Police Department spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling. The City Attorney’s Office did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The incident at the center of the lawsuit occurred late one night in October 2024 when police responded to an Encanto home for a 911 call reporting that a man with a gun had threatened a woman. Much of the incident was captured by a freelance news videographer.
That footage showed that after officers coaxed three people out of the home, Evans emerged barefoot and shirtless, wearing basketball shorts. He did not surrender to police, but the freelancer’s footage showed him appearing calm and trying to speak with officers from a distance, at times seated on a retaining wall and at times standing with his hands raised. At one point while seated on the wall, an officer fired a bean bag round that struck him in the stomach, dropping him to the ground.
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While on the ground, officers fired additional bean bag rounds, including one that allegedly broke his leg, and twice sent a police dog at him. The video showed that during the second time, the dog latched onto Evans’ left forearm and violently thrashed as Evans cried out in pain. Officers then moved in and arrested him.
“One can agree or disagree with the actions of the officers in this case, but the people have a right to make up their own minds based on all of the information, not just the limited amount of information that happens to have been in the press or that the city has chosen to disclose,” Loy said after Friday’s hearing. “People are entitled to the full story, not just the official story.”
Evans also sued the city, alleging civil rights violations. The city settled his lawsuit last year for $875,000.
Earlier this year, the county District Attorney’s Office the officers involved. That decision prompted the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, the mission of which is to advocate for the Black community in San Diego, to request an independent investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
In response, the district attorney released additional records about the Evans case that were not previously disclosed. The office also accusing the bar association of leaving out key context about a domestic violence call allegedly involving Evans that led police officers to the home that night.
In court Friday, Senior Deputy City Attorney Jana Mickova Will asked Roberts to delay finalizing her tentative ruling, telling the judge the city “strongly disputes” that the use of force in the Evans case amounted to a critical incident. By law, police agencies in the state must disclose records in critical incidents.
The judge denied that request, saying the city failed to raise the issue months ago when it had the chance. The judge also said she believed the case likely met the legal definition of a critical incident.
Mickova Will also asked the judge to allow the city to continue withholding certain documents because the city has not yet completed an investigation involving the police officers. She said that the “city of San Diego internal investigation” to determine whether the officers would be disciplined was put on hold while the District Attorney’s Office completed its review for possible criminal charges.
The judge also denied that request, ordering the city to disclose all relevant records.
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