Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office Announces Findings in March 21, 2020 Police Shooting

After conducting an Officer Involved Critical Incident (OICI) review, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has determined that the March 21, 2020 use of deadly force by a Unified Police Department Officer was not justified. 

After determining the facts do not support the affirmative legal defense of justification, we reviewed the evidence and considered whether Officer Flores should be charged criminally for his use of deadly force.  We determined we lacked proof of the required criminal intent to support a criminal charge.  We also determined we lacked sufficient quantity and quality of evidence to support each element of a criminal charge.  Therefore, consistent with the legal and ethical obligations to satisfy our burden of proof (which legal and ethical obligation govern our ability to file a criminal case) we declined to file charges against the officer, as explained more fully in the attached letter.   

No body-worn cameras recorded this shooting.  When police shootings have video recordings of the shooting, we hold press conferences to announce our findings and conclusions of the shooting.  Because no video recording of the shooting exists, our letter (attached) discusses our findings and conclusions, released with his press release. 

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, operating pursuant to an agreement with participating law enforcement agencies and consistent with established protocols and applicable laws, conducts independent reviews of officer involved critical incidents, including police officers' use of deadly force used in the scope of police officers' official duties.