Overview
- District Attorney Nathan Hochman filed a motion to drop the 2023 voluntary manslaughter indictments of Officers Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez in the 2018 killing of Christopher Deandre Mitchell.
- Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta declined to rule, citing the California Supreme Court’s current jurisdiction over related defense filings.
- Special prosecutor Michael Gennaco’s review concluded a conviction is unlikely given evidentiary limits, including the trial court’s exclusion of “officer‑created jeopardy” evidence and non‑retroactivity of a 2020 use‑of‑force law.
- Gennaco criticized prior special prosecutor Lawrence Middleton for missing the three‑year statute of limitations for involuntary manslaughter and for how video and instructions were presented to the grand jury.
- Mitchell, 23, was shot in a Ralphs parking lot after officers saw what looked like a rifle butt between his legs; the object was an air/pellet gun, and Chavez has since left the Torrance Police Department while Concannon remains on leave.