MELROSE—Jury selection has begun for Deputy Marshal Matthew Itkowitz. On March 5, 2008, at around 11:50 p.m., Deputy Itkowitz stepped out of a bar with his wife near Melrose Avenue. After a quarrel, he hit his wife, who then ran to pedestrian Ryan Gonzalez for help.
Ryan Gonzalez, 26, worked in a tattoo shop nearby. Gonzalez confronted Itkowitz and after a brief fight with Gonsalez, Itkowitz, who was off-duty at the time, shot him multiple times. Gonzalez was taken to Cedars-Sinai, where he died the following day from injuries he sustained. Itkowitz stated that the killing was an act of self-defense.
There was video footage of the crime where prosecutors determined that Itkowitz’s original statement regarding the shooting was not consistent. The district attorney’s office did not file charges asserting that it was not clear if Itkowitz was acting in self-defense.
Itkowitz’s ex-wife is expected to testify as a witness in the case for the federal trial that began on Tuesday, July 21.
