Trial Begins For Sonoma Sheriff's Deputy Charged With Assault

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Testimony began this morning at the trial of a former Sonoma County sheriff's deputy charged with assaulting without lawful necessity during an alleged domestic violence incident at a Sonoma Valley residence in 2016. Deputy Scott Thorne was 40 at the time of the incident on Sept. 24, 2016. Sheriff's officials announced the next month that he was no longer employed by the sheriff's office.

During testimony in Sonoma County Superior Court this morning, a next-door neighbor said she called 911 about yelling and a commotion between Fernando Del Valle and his wife Kirsten Del Valle around 10:30 p.m. She said Kirsten sounded intoxicated and appeared to be the aggressor in the argument.

Three deputies responded to the incident. Thorne knocked on the front door of the residence but no one answered. When he entered the bedroom, Del Valle was lying on a bed and he refused to stand up.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Waner played a nine-minute video taken by Deputy Beau Zastrow's body-worn camera that showed Thorne striking Fernando Del Valle with a baton and shooting him twice with a Taser stun gun.

Fernando Del Valle is heard screaming, "I wasn't doing anything," and telling his wife to call his lawyer. He was handcuffed while lying on the floor and was taken outside.

Del Valle, a former corrections officer, had been removed from the house once before, and the video shows nothing to indicate he was a domestic violence threat, Waner told the jury.

"He was beaten, Tased and subjected to a humiliating arrest in view of his neighbors," the prosecutor said.

Thorne had a gun, Taser, baton, handcuffs and tear gas, "but he didn't have the soft skills of patience and restraint," and he used force without lawful necessity, Waner said.

Thorne's attorney Chris Andrian told the jury his client waited 90 seconds to enter the residence after he knocked loudly three times.

That delay affects an officer's state of mind, and Thorne didn't know if Del Valle had a weapon in the bed, was harming himself or destroying evidence, Andrian said.

"Domestic violence calls are the most dangerous calls for law enforcement," Andrian told the jury.

By not complying with the deputy's commands to open the bedroom door and get out of the bed, Del Valle forfeited his right to privacy and staying in the room because of the potential for violence, Andrian said.

Del Valle told Thorne to go ahead and kick the door open and use the Taser on him because he was going to call his lawyer, Andrian said.

"He was actively resisting," Andrian said.

"There was a lot going on and the officers were acting as they were trained to," Andrian said.

"It's real simple. You're told to open the door, OK you open it. You're told to get up, OK get up," Andrian said.

The Del Valles are scheduled to testify as the trial continues.

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• Deputy No Longer Employed After Excessive Force Used In Domestic Dispute
• Ex Sonoma County Deputy Pleads Not Guilty To Assault

By Bay City News Service

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