By Sarah Weld
Prosecutors from across the country gathered at Berkeley Law last month for the first-ever national conference on how to effectively prosecute police officers accused of using excessive force.
Co-hosted by Berkeley Law’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and Criminal Law & Justice Center, and the Prosecutors Alliance of California, the three-day “Prosecution of Law Enforcement Misconduct” event offered prosecutors the training and skills to better handle law enforcement use-of-force cases.
The conference featured several keynote speakers — including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price ’82, and Cook County (Illinois) State’s Attorney Kim Foxx — panel discussions, and opportunities for prosecutors, academics, and victims’ family members to share ideas and resources.
Despite the recent surge in elected progressive prosecutors nationwide, few resources have been available for them to learn how best to evaluate and prosecute police use-of-force cases — until now.
Founded in 2020 by current and former elected California district attorneys, including current Los Angeles D.A and former San Francisco D.A. George Gascon, former San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin, and current Contra Costa County D.A. Diana Becton, Prosecutors Alliance aims to “fight the politics of mass incarceration and end the failed strategies of the past.” This is the organization’s first conference.
“We are thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response to our inaugural conference on the prosecution of fatal, unlawful force by law enforcement. We are committed to empowering attorneys handling these complex cases,” says Cristine DeBerry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance. “By providing them with comprehensive training and accessible resources, we aim to catalyze meaningful progress within communities nationwide, always ensuring that the pursuit of justice remains at the forefront of our collective efforts.”
Family voices
In addition to more than 65 prosecutors from the offices of local district attorneys and state attorneys general from 15 states, family members of people killed by police — including Philando Castile, Sean Monterrosa, and Walter Scott — also attended the conference. They shared their difficult experiences navigating the criminal justice system on behalf of their relatives and recommended policy shifts to address excessive use of force and how hard it is to prosecute police officers.
“It’s essential to bring the family perspective because often we’re left out of the conversation,” says Michelle Monterrosa, whose brother Sean was killed by Vallejo, California police at a 2020 protest. “My goal was to bring Sean’s story forward and share everything we’ve had to go through to get to where we are. Families who have been harmed by police violence are not met with compassion or love or humanization. We have to carry the burden of becoming our own lawyers, experts, and detectives.”
Police thought he was holding a gun, but it was a hammer. The officer has not yet faced charges and was reinstated in September.
In the past 12 months, 1,122 people have been shot and killed by police in the United States, with 9,155 killed since 2015, according to ongoing analysis by The Washington Post.
Family members Monterrosa and her sister Ashley, Valerie Castile, and Anthony Scott shared their perspectives on a panel moderated by Roxanna Altholz ’99, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic.
“Excessive use of force by police officers constitutes a human rights violation under international law so the international community has repeatedly called on the United States to end the impunity enjoyed by police officers. This conference provided a space for prosecutors to have a long overdue discussion about how to improve prosecution strategies,” Altholz says. “Listening to the family members of Philando Castile, Walter Scott, and Sean Monterrosa speak directly to prosecutors from 15 states gathered in one room was a rare and powerful moment. Their message was clear: Justice demands the criminal prosecution of police who kill.”
An important step
In addition to the family members’ panel, the conference featured five other panels over two days, addressing police use-of-force policy and practice, investigation techniques and evidence challenges, appropriate use of expert witnesses, lessons learned from recent prosecutions, and communications and transparency in high-profile cases. There was also time for small group discussions and casual conversation during meals — critical for exchanging ideas and information.
Anthony Scott’s unarmed brother, Walter, was killed in North Charleston, South Carolina, during a traffic stop for a broken brake light in 2015. He and Monterrosa say that several prosecutors at the conference thanked them for sharing their experiences.
“I feel hopeful,” says Scott, who speaks to new police recruits every year in North Charleston, sharing how one police officer’s bad decision completely changed his family’s life. “If I got to just one or two of those prosecutors, so when they’re faced with this situation again, instead of dismissing themselves from it, they decided to take it on and fight their hardest to win, we’ve had success.
“It’s important that prosecutors see how this actually affects families, to get no results, to get nothing done. And how bitter it makes the families when it comes to police officers and prosecutors. When they dismiss themselves, when they don’t fight to their fullest extent, it hurts the families. And when you have no type of justice, where are you to go? How are you to fight? What are you to do?”
Boudin, founding executive director of Berkeley Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center, agrees: “We cannot have real justice or real safety in our communities when law enforcement officers are allowed to get away with murder. In fact, when communities impacted by crime lose trust in law enforcement, they stop reporting crime, they stop cooperating with investigators, and as jurors they stop believing police officers who are the key witnesses in virtually every criminal case prosecutors file.”
The conference is an important step in offering prosecutors the tools to prosecute law enforcement in cases involving excessive force, say victims’ family members.
“My message to the prosecutors is to be transparent and communicate. If there is no victims compensation fund within your department, create one,” Monterrosa says. “And don’t be afraid to be bold. You’re in a position of power and you can essentially prevent this from happening. You have all the tools, you know the law better than we do, and it’s time for you to be bold and active and hold police accountable.”