Policeman indicted for fatal shooting pleads not guilty

The police officer indicted for the fatal shooting at the Dededo Shell gas station in March pled not guilty to the charges today. His attorney says Officer Justin Quenga acted professionally in a highly volatile situation, and he accused the attorney general of "politicizing" the case.

Officer Quenga is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Iopy Rudolph, who was armed with a slingshot and was shooting at passersby at the Shell gas station along Marine Corps Drive near Ysengsong Road. An independent investigative team that responds to officer-involved shootings brought the charges and a grand jury returned the indictment.

But Quenga's attorney, Curtis Van De Veld, says his client acted professionally. He explained, "It's extremely important to remember that this was a volatile situation and he was acting appropriately as a police officer. And the government simply is presenting this case, I think, for political purposes because the AG's running for re-election and they don't have the courage to make the right decision not to prosecute this case."

"I'm saying he did exactly what a police officer is charged with the responsibility to do.  And this is not something where he went out looking for someone to shoot them," Van De Veld continued, "this is a very volatile situation where there's reports of somebody thats armed and he simply did what the circumstances required him to do."

The lawyer was critical of the indictment, which he says puts police in an almost no-win situation. "You can't put police officers in a position where they are susceptible to being prosecuted simply because they're trying to do their job," he stated. "We recently have seen in the news the Uvalde school shooting, and there's ample criticism of police officers relative to that school shooting  and other school shootings about inaction. So when a police officer does act under the high pressure of a volatile situation, they're damned then.

"So they're damned if they do, they're damned if they don't."

He expects the case won't be dropped and will likely proceed to trial.

In the meantime, Van De Veld says his client is coping as best he can, noting, "Justin has felt that he is not guilty of any wrongdoing, continues to believe that, and he's trying to adapt to the circumstances. No one enjoys being charged with a crime, particularly someone who's innocent."

In response to Van de Veld's accusation that the AG is 'politicizing' his defendant's case, OAG spokesperson Carlina Charfauros issued a statement to KUAM late this afternoon stating, "This incident took place during an election year and is not something within the control of AG Camacho or the Office of the Attorney General." "To blame the Grand Jury's determination on political motivation is disingenuous and threatens the integrity of the criminal justice system. And as convenient as it may be, doing so should not be a part of any defense strategy," Charfauros said.

Charfauros adds Quenga’s case was handled the same way as any other case within the Independent Investigative Team process and that the IIT was established to improve transparency and accountability. She says that after a thorough review of all the facts and evidence collected, the IIT determined that the shooting was not clearly justified. The evidence was then presented to a Grand Jury panel who found that there was probable cause to charge Quenga with manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Charfauros concludes her statement by noting that they understand that this is a difficult situation for both the family who lost a loved one and an officer who reported to work as any other day, ready to serve his community.