The family of Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. Manuel Loggins has released a statement in response to Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' decision to clear the deputy who shot Loggins of any criminal wrongdoing.
The family's statement was sent to reporters by the Cochran Law Firm, which is representing Loggins' wife in a wrongful death lawsuit against the County of Orange and the Orange County District Attorney's office.
In the statement (written in all caps) the Loggins' family expresses "extreme disappointment" in the DA's decision to call Deputy Darren Sandberg's fatal shooting of Loggins "justified":
THE FAMILY OF SERGEANT LOGGINS IS FURTHER DISMAYED BY THE PUBLISHED FINDINGS OF THE OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WHICH DO NOT PROVIDE ANY FORM OF RATIONAL JUSTIFICATION FOR THE BRUTAL KILLING OF A DEDICATED HUSBAND AND FATHER IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS, BUT RATHER, REFLECT A ONE-SIDED ANALYSIS OF THE SHOOTING DEPUTY’S VERSION OF EVENTS, WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE ABYSMAL TACTICAL DECISIONS UNDERLYING THE DEPUTY’S TRAGIC ERRORS.
THE COMMENTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SERGEANT LOGGINS’ YOUNG DAUGHTERS ARE COMPLETELY TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT, AND ARE THE PRODUCT OF SELECTED EXCERPTS OF A FOCUSED INTERROGATION CONDUCTED BY BIASED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS, WHO SEPARATED THE YOUNG GIRLS AGAINST THEIR WILL, AND INTERROGATED THEM IN A CUSTODIAL SETTING OVER A PERIOD OF APPROXIMATELY 13 HOURS.
