Mistrial declared in case of man charged in off-duty police officer's killing

A photo of 26-year-old Gardiel Solorio an off-duty Monterey Park police officer who was fatal shoot was displayed at a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022 in Downey , CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

DOWNEY — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of a man charged with an off-duty Monterey Park police officer's shooting death in what authorities called a botched daytime robbery attempt in a Downey parking lot.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph R. Porras cited concerns that jurors -- who were not told that Gardiel Solorio was an off-duty police officer -- might have figured it out while hearing evidence during the trial of the alleged gunman, Carlos Daniel Delcid.

Delcid's attorney, Rick Sternfeld, initially asked for a mistrial after a Long Beach police officer testified that he received information that a "Monterey Park police officer had been" -- before he was quickly cut off by Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin -- and then again requested a mistrial after the lead detective on the case notified prosecutors that he believed he had heard the phrase "off-duty" in a recording that was played for the jury but was not contained in transcripts given to the panel.

Prosecutors objected to the defense's latest request for a mistrial, writing in court papers, "To assume that a juror would somehow stitch together two disconnected statements -- 12 innocuous words spoken on different days by different individuals -- and conclude that the victim was an off-duty Monterey Park police officer would require attributing to the jury a level of inferential gymnastics that would impress even the most seasoned mentalist."

But the judge said he couldn't say for certain that "zero of them" had "put this together" and told attorneys, "I'm not going to take that chance."

He said that jurors would be dismissed, and ordered Delcid to return to the Norwalk courtroom next Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.

Sternfeld said outside court that the jury could infer based on the officer's statement and the comment in the recording that the victim was an off- duty police officer, which could "unduly prejudice the jury."

Delcid's attorney noted that the judge had ruled before the trial that the jury was not allowed to hear that Solorio was an off-duty police officer.

After the mistrial was declared, Lewin said outside court that he wanted to commend Downey police Detective Ron Gee for his "honesty and integrity" in reporting the snafu that was "likely not heard by anyone else in the courtroom."

Delcid is charged with one count each of murder, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon involving the Aug. 8, 2022, shooting of the 26-year-old victim, along with one count of second-degree robbery involving an April 2022 robbery in Long Beach.

The murder charge against Delcid includes the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of an attempted robbery and attempted carjacking, along with allegations that he personally discharged a handgun during each of the crimes.

Delcid could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.

In his opening statement Monday, the prosecutor had told jurors that Solorio was "essentially executed" on Aug. 8, 2022, as he prepared to get out of his black Dodge Charger in the parking lot of an LA Fitness gym in the 12700 block of Lakewood Boulevard, near the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway.

He said jurors would hear recordings of statements that Delcid and another man, Gerardo Magallanes, made to undercover operatives shortly after they were arrested. The prosecutor said Solorio was "shot five times for refusing to give up that car."

Delcid, now 23, was arrested that night in Long Beach, with police discovering a gray hooded sweatshirt and a mask -- like the ones seen in surveillance video of the shooting -- inside a black Honda Accord in which he and two other men had been located, according to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor said there was "not going to be an issue who pulled the trigger here," and called the evidence "absolutely overwhelming."

Delcid's attorney told jurors that Solorio's shooting was a "horrible tragedy," but urged them to look at the evidence with a critical eye.

Sternfeld said he wanted the panel to focus in on what occurred prior to the shooting and to listen closely to the account of a witness who suggested it might have been the result of road-rage and described the gunman as a "Black" man.

The defense attorney noted that alcohol, marijuana and a laughing gas tank were found during a search of the Honda, telling the panel that should be taken into consideration.

He said he was confident that jurors would acquit his client of a separate count of second-degree robbery involving the alleged hold-up a few months earlier in Long Beach in which a necklace and wallet were taken from a man and a gunshot was fired toward the ground.

Delcid was among three people who were charged in connection with the off-duty officer's killing.

Co-defendant Gerardo Magallanes -- who was 18 at the time and is now 21 -- was sentenced to 24 years and eight months in state prison after pleading no contest last year to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful firearm activity, and admitting an allegation that he furnished a firearm, along with a gun allegation.

Magallanes supplied the gun used in the killing and was a back-seat passenger in the vehicle containing the alleged gunman, Carlos Delcid, and the 17-year-old getaway driver, who was sentenced last year to 11 years in custody after pleading no contest in adult court to voluntary manslaughter, Lewin said last year.

At Magallanes' sentencing last September, one of the victim's sisters, Ana, said, , "I wish I could tell you that you deserved to die, but no, that would be too easy. I hope you feel every ounce of pain we have felt these last three years ... To me, you're as guilty as the guy who pulled the trigger."

The victim's older brother, Carlos Solorio, told the judge that the plea deal with Magallanes felt "like another slap in the face" and asked instead for the "maximum sentence allowed" for Magallanes, saying that "anything less is not justice."

The judge said he had to evaluate whether the plea deal with Magallanes was "outside the norm," saying he concluded that it was not.

Solorio, who was a rookie just weeks out of the academy, was found unresponsive in his car by authorities and was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.

Then-Monterey Park Police Department Chief Kelly Gordon called his killing "a senseless act of violence."

Gordon said at a news conference that Solorio, who grew up in Bell Gardens and graduated from Cal State Los Angeles with a degree in criminal justice, joined the department as a recruit in January, and had just graduated from the sheriff's training academy in July 2022 before beginning his field training three days later.

"Although his time with (the department) was very short, we all knew from the moment we met him that he had the heart of service and was going to be a great officer," she said then.

"And I could tell that from the moment he walked in and did our first introductions in my office. The family and department are grieving right now, and this is an especially difficult tragedy. It's a senseless act of violence. He was only 26 years old. I don't know about all of you, but I have children that age. So to me, this is particularly difficult."