Domestic-violence charges against a Vancouver police officer were dropped Monday after the prosecution said there was insufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Gerardo Gutierrez, 45, of Vancouver was facing two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault in Clark County District Court following an investigation by the Camas Police Department. He previously entered not-guilty pleas to the charges and was scheduled for trial May 31. Court records list his wife and two adopted sons, ages 9 and 10, as the victims.
However, the charges were instead dismissed without prejudice, which means they could be brought again at a later time.
“Officer Gutierrez is completely innocent of these charges. The prosecuting attorney dismissed the charges before it ended up in front of a jury because that was the right thing to do,” his defense attorney Jon McMullen said in a phone interview Wednesday. “There was no chance of us accepting a plea deal.”
Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes, who was handling the case, said that after evaluating the case, the prosecution determined it could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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