MODESTO, Calif. — A former Modesto Police officer has been cleared of voluntary manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of 29-year-old Trevor Seever.
A Stanislaus County judge dismissed the case against Joseph Lamantia Friday arguing prosecutors had not shown Lamantia committed the crime without legal justification, according to Lamantia's attorney Roger Wilson.
"We're excited and happy with the outcome of the case and the judge's ruling," said Wilson. "It's been a long haul."
Case history
On Dec. 29, 2020, Lamantia shot and killed Seever near Woodland Avenue and Dan West Court in Modesto. Lamantia was sent to the area after Seever's family called 911 to report he had recently bought a gun and was threatening them.
Body camera video released by police in 2021 shows Lamantia yelling, "Get on the ground" before opening fire at least four times, less than 10 seconds after arriving at the scene.
Seever was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
An investigation by the Modesto Police Department's Use of Force Review Board found Lamantia broke the department's policies, procedures and training. Lamantia was involved in four other shootings during his tenure.
The Modesto Police Department fired Lamantia in March 2021, around the same time the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office charged him with voluntary manslaughter.
The case had been in pretrial examination since November.
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