A wrongful death suit against two Palm Springs police officers who shot and killed a Twentynine Palms Marine in 2012 faces yet another delay. Two years ago, Corporal Allan DeVillena II, 22, was celebrating the Marine Corps birthday in Palm Springs with a friend, Private First Class Clinton Harris. Following a confrontation in a parking garage, two police officers shot DeVillena, who was drunk, six times, as he was trying to drive out of the garage. In October, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office declined to press charges against the police officers. The trial for DeVillena’s wrongful death lawsuit by his family was scheduled to begin in April, but it is now scheduled to begin in September, five months later. The Desert Sun newspaper says the delay is because the district attorney has not yet decided whether to charge DeVillena’s companion, Harris, a key witness in DeVillena’s family’s wrongful death suit. According to the newspaper, Harris could incriminate himself if he testifies without receiving immunity from unspecified charges. Harris’ attorney told the paper the delay is perplexing and wondered if the DA was intentionally stalling the wrongful death lawsuit.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2014/12/29/marine-devillena-shooting-lawsuit/21017761/
WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT OF MARINE KILLED BY PALM SPRINGS POLICE DELAYED
