SACRAMENTO — A federal judge ordered the man shot by ICE agents in the Central Valley to remain in custody, reversing an earlier ruling that would have freed him as he awaits trial on a charge of assault on an officer.
The ruling in federal court in Sacramento on Monday was the latest development in the case of a traffic stop that escalated into the use of deadly force — and one that raised questions similar to those in controversial shootings that have rocked other cities amid a nationwide crackdown by immigration agents.
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernández was charged with assault after an incident on April 7 in Patterson, about 40 miles south of Stockton, when authorities alleged he drove his car toward them, prompting agents to shoot him.
But the man’s defense attorney, eyewitness claims and video evidence contradicted or complicated the narrative put forth by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and by the FBI account that led to the charges. Mendoza Hernández, his attorney and another witness say agents opened fire during the traffic stop, and that he was trying to drive to flee their gunfire.
In court Monday, U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd heard arguments on an earlier ruling that directed Mendoza Hernández be freed on bond.
Mendoza Hernández appeared in the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing bright orange prison garb, with his right arm in a large cast, and bandages on his left arm and jaw. According to his family’s lawyer, Patrick Kolasinski, ICE agents shot Mendoza Hernández at least six times.
As he was wheeled in and out of the courtroom by men in U.S. Marshals shirts, Mendoza Hernández turned his head to look at his fiancée, Cindy, who sat in the first row of the gallery.
Federal prosecutor Jason Hitt argued that because hospital records suggested Mendoza Hernández might have had cocaine in his system at the time of the shooting and the government had determined him to “have reached a high level in a violent gang” in El Salvador, he was a threat to public safety.
Other cases of immigration enforcement based on gang affiliation have been called into question repeatedly over the last year. For numerous Venezuelan asylum seekers who were deported to maximum security prisons in El Salvador, court documents later showed agents relied on evidence such as everyday tattoos to accuse people of gang membership.
But the judge ultimately decided to order Mendoza Hernández to remain in custody not because he could be dangerous, but because he believed Mendoza Hernández “took extreme steps to avoid apprehension,” and therefore could be a flight risk.
Drozd said he arrived at the determination after watching a zoomed-in video of the traffic stop, in which he says the wheels of Mendoza Hernández’s car turned to the left prior to the moment the first ICE agent opened fire.
Mendoza Hernández’s public defender, attorney David Harshaw, argued that because he has a fiancée and 2-year -old daughter at home, and because he has serious injuries, he would not want to — and would not be able — to flee. “His flight in this case was to save his own life,” Harshaw said. He also suggested house arrest or an ankle monitor, options the judge ultimately rejected.
Harshaw said he worries for Mendoza Hernández’s health in the California City detention center, where he is in the custody of U.S. Marshals. “His medical care is substandard at this point,” Harshaw said. “He’s getting ibuprofen two times a day.”
The traffic stop began when four ICE agents sought to arrest Mendoza Hernández early on the morning of April 7. In an affidavit filed seeking an arrest warrant and criminal charges, an FBI agent wrote that agents began by surveilling the man’s home in Patterson, then followed him as he left home and drove toward Interstate 5.
“The purpose of the operation was to locate and arrest Mendoza Hernández because he is an illegal alien with no status in the U.S.,” the affidavit said, alleging that when agents stopped Mendoza Hernández and instructed him to get out of the vehicle, he refused, a confrontation that escalated to the shooting.
The affidavit in the case does not reiterate another allegation from a statement issued April 7 by ICE Director Todd Lyons: that Mendoza Hernández was as wanted in connection to a murder in El Salvador — a claims the man’s attorney has denied.
After the shooting, Mendoza Hernández was hospitalized in Modesto and underwent surgery.
Since then, both his physical condition and physical location have been at issue in the case.
Federal officials arrested him while he was in a hospital intensive care unit, then over the following days, appeared to try to relocate him to as many as six different jails hundreds of miles apart.
Mendoza Hernández’s fiancée, Cindy, who asked not to use her full name because of fear of retaliation, said she is worried for his physical health because he has not received comprehensive medical care since he was in the hospital and has wounds on his jaw and his arm.
“They haven’t changed his bandages in days,” she said. “He says it’s extremely painful. He has been soaking his food in water to be able to eat it.”
Monday’s ruling means Mendoza Hernández will wait in custody until the next hearing in his case, slated for May 5. Cindy says she will need to drive four and a half hours to visit him each weekend.
Mendoza Hernández could remain in custody for months or years, Kolasinski said, as the case moves through indictment, evidence gathering and trial.
As light rain began to fall outside the Sacramento courthouse, protesters chanted, “Free Carlos!” and local advocates and priests who attended the hearing in support of Mendoza Hernández comforted Cindy.
“I feel deceived,” she said.
