No decision on charges in fatal Sonoma fistfight

Prosecutors asked for more time Thursday to decide whether to charge a Sonoma Valley man involved in a fatal fistfight, saying they had not yet received a final autopsy report.

Joshua Javier Gonzalez, 19, is suspected of killing Mario Zamudio Perez, 25, also of Sonoma Valley, five weeks ago in a scuffle outside the Valley of the Moon Teen Center in Fetters Hot Springs.

Police believe Gonzalez punched Perez, knocking him down and causing fatal head injuries. Gonzalez’s lawyer says he acted in self-defense when Perez picked a fight with him.

But the exact details of how Perez died are unknown because the autopsy report has not been completed, prosecutor Barbara Nanney said. It is expected to take another 90 days before it is done, she told Judge Dana Simonds.

The delay comes amid criticism of an autopsy report backlog that has postponed other court proceedings and left unanswered questions for police and grieving families.

Sheriff Steve Freitas, who oversees autopsies performed by a private Fairfield company, Forensic Medical Group, said there was no connection between the backlog and the time it is taking to produce the Perez report.

Freitas said the industry standard for autopsy reports in similar-sized counties is 90 to 120 days. Perez died a little more than a month ago, he said.

“The fight happened 33 days ago,” Freitas said. “They are never done in that time. The toxicology tests alone take longer than that.”

Gonzalez’s lawyer, Walter Rubenstein, said it takes the Sheriff’s Office too long to produce autopsy reports.

“It’s terrible for the victim’s family and for my client to be in this limbo,” Rubenstein told Simonds.

The judge agreed.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation what’s going on,” Simonds responded.

Over the past two years, hundreds of unfinished autopsy reports have piled up at the Chanate Road morgue, prompting questions from the public and a grand jury inquiry. The backlog reached 400 cases earlier this year but had been reduced to about 250 as of mid-September, said Dr. Kelley Arthur-Kenny, Forensic Medical Group’s president.

The bottleneck has been blamed in part on a nationwide shortage of forensic pathologists, a series of complex death investigations and mismanagement, both from the company and the Sheriff’s Office.

Facing a possible lawsuit or fines, Arthur-Kenny has committed to clear the backlog before the end of January.

Rubenstein predicted the autopsy report would help clear his client.

Perez and Gonzalez squared off outside the teen center Aug. 29, reportedly over a Facebook posting, Rubenstein said. Perez took a swing at Gonzalez and Gonzalez punched back, hitting him and knocking him against a wall, Rubenstein said.

Perez died of head injuries. Gonzalez, who had been using a teen center computer to look for a car to buy, left after the fight, unaware the blow was fatal, Rubenstein said. He turned himself in after consulting with family and a church pastor. He was booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter but released on $25,000 bail.

Gonzalez and his parents attended Thursday’s court hearing. His lawyer said Perez’s family was there, too.

Outside in the hall, Gonzalez said the delay made him anxious about his future. Rubenstein said the autopsy report could exonerate his client. He said the public deserves a faster turnaround time.

“Just because it is the norm doesn’t make it right,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.