The California Supreme Court will not review the case of a man convicted of trying to kill a Santa Monica police officer.
In a ruling Wednesday, the court denied a request to review the case but the suspect will still receive a new sentence following an earlier court decision to reduce his convictions.
In 2010, Dante Leverette was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped because the driver was believed to be drunk. During the stop, Leverette got out of the vehicle, fired at officers and struck Officer Benito Seli below his vest. Leverette then fled on foot.
A search of the area involving SWAT, K-9 officers and police from various agencies including the Beverly Hills, Culver City Inglewood and Gardena police departments, ended with at least one officer wounding Leverette and taking him into custody.
He was eventually convicted on three counts of attempted murder due to several officers being near the gunfire. Earlier this year, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered a new sentencing for Leverette after ruling that two of the three attempted murder charges were incorrect citing evidence that Leverette only intended to shoot at one officer. The court also dismissed several enhancements on his charges saying Leverette’s past crimes didn’t justify the additional charges.
Matthew Hall
