Prosecutors Not Liable in Death of Witness, Appeals Court Rules

County prosecutors cannot be held liable for the death of a 14-year-old Pomona boy who was killed just days before he was due to testify as an eyewitness in a gang-related murder, a state appeals court has ruled.

Like judges, prosecutors performing official business are immune from civil suits, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled this week, dismissing a lawsuit against two deputy district attorneys by the parents of the slain 14-year-old, Eduardo Samaniego.

Eduardo, a churchgoing Little League player, was gunned down in an alley near his Pomona home on Aug. 17, 1992--the week before he and three friends were to testify in the murder trial of an alleged gunman.

His death prompted prayer vigils and marches in Pomona, with activists charging that authorities did not do enough to keep Eduardo safe or to inform his parents of the risks of testifying.

At a preliminary hearing, Eduardo and three other youths identified Arthur Melendrez, 22, of Chino, as the gunman. Before the hearing, Samaniego and the others had told Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Falls that they did not want to testify because they were scared--although they had not been threatened.

Falls--who happened to be standing in that day for colleague Dennis Ferris--explained the witness protection program and gave the boys the business cards of various Pomona police officers with instructions to call if they were threatened.

But just days before the trial was to begin, Eduardo was fatally shot.