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# COURT Jury selection begins for Espindola trial
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/court-jury-selection-begins-for-espindola-trial/
- Published: 2007-01-03T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:34:48.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*Attorney says police arrested wrong man*

AIRPORT COURTHOUSE — Jury selection is expected to begin today for the trial of a suspected gang member charged with attempting to murder two undercover Santa Monica police officers.

Michael German Espindola,21,has plead not guilty to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a firearm, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and one count of unlawful firearm activity.

In addition, the complaint against Espindola, a Santa Monica resident, alleges the attempted murder was to further the activities of a criminal street gang and that Espindola personally discharged a handgun. He is being held on $2.4 million bail.

If convicted, Espindola faces up to life in prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The trial was supposed to begin in October, however, a judge postponed the trial so that Espindola’s newly hired attorney could prepare for the case.

“My client is innocent and I will prove it at trial,” said David Diamond, who is representing Espindola.“The Santa Monica Police Department was in such a rush to find the person responsible for injuring one of their own, that they arrested the wrong person.

“Furthermore... I will produce the person that should go to jail for hurting a law enforcement officer.”

> “I WILL PRODUCE THE PERSON THAT SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR HURTING A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.” — David Diamond Attorney for Espindola

The shooting occurred on Feb. 2 at about 5 a.m. near the corner of 20th Street and Pico Boulevard. Officers immediately sealed off the area and conducted a search, locating the suspects in an apartment building in the 1900 block of 17th Street, near Santa Monica College. The department’s SWAT team was deployed and negotiated the surrender of the suspects at approximately 6:15 a.m., police said.

Officer Walter Ramirez, a 4-year veteran of the department, suffered a “through and through” wound to his right wrist, and was transported to UCLA Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Shortly before the shooting, the suspects were observed acting suspiciously in the parking lot of the Ralph’s grocery store at 1600 Cloverfield Boulevard. Officers in a marked patrol car notified Ramirez and his partner, who were in an undercover unit assigned to burglary suppression. The two observed the suspects drive off in a blue van and proceeded to follow them at a distance of roughly two blocks, police said.

The officers lost site of the suspects’ van around 18th Street and Pico Boulevard. As the officers drove south on 17th Street,they noticed the van parked in a driveway.As Ramirez drove closer, a suspect, believed to be Espindola, jumped from the passenger side of the van, raised a weapon and fired three rounds, one striking Ramirez in the right wrist as he tried to drive away from the scene, police said.

His partner “saw the suspect raise his arm holding a firearm,” said former SMPD Chief James T. Butts hours after the incident. “He yelled, ‘gun, gun.’”

As Ramirez hit the accelerator, one shot was fired. The second shot went through the passenger side window and struck Ramirez. A third shot shattered the right rear window.

The officers did not return fire, said Butts.

The incident wasn’t the first time an officer had been targeted in the area. According to Butts, an officer was shot at while patrolling 19th Street and Michigan Avenue roughly 18 months beforehand. The officer was not injured and the suspects were taken into custody shortly after the shooting.

Concerned community members have warned the City Council for years about a relatively high crime rate and gang activity in the neighborhood adjacent to SMC, where just last week a 20-year-old Santa Monica man was killed in a drive-by shooting near Virginia Avenue Park.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 3, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/010307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)