Former Sacramento police officer accused of domestic violence faces new criminal charges
A former Sacramento police officer accused of domestic violence faces new criminal charges for alleged incidents that occurred several months after his first arrest, according to court documents.
Justin David Shepard, 31, faces five felony charges in connection with alleged criminal acts upon a woman with whom Shepard had a dating relationship, according to an amended criminal complaint the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office filed on March 1.
Shepard also faces misdemeanor charges in a separate criminal case in which he and another Sacramento police officer were accused of illegally possessing steroids. The other officer has since entered a drug diversion program; Shepard’s steroid possession case is still pending.
Shepard has pleaded not guilty in the domestic violence case. On Wednesday morning, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Bunmi Awoniyi asked attorneys in the case to return on June 29 to schedule a preliminary hearing for Shepard to hear testimony and determine whether there’s sufficient evidence for him to stand trial. Shepard did not appear in court Wednesday; his attorney appeared on his behalf.
The amended complaint includes two counts of willfully and unlawfully inflicting corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, stemming from an alleged incident on April 26, 2021, and another in July 2021. Shepard also is accused of committing an act in July that violated “the personal liberty” of the victim by using “violence, menace, fraud, and deceit,” according to the complaint.
Shepard also faces charges in incidents that allegedly occurred Dec. 9 and Dec. 19 in Solano County: two counts of willfully and unlawfully inflicting corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition. The amended complaint indicates these charges stem from different offenses that are connected to the alleged domestic violence crimes committed last year in Sacramento County.
Police officer’s first arrest
Shepard was first arrested May 7, booked and later released from Sacramento County Main Jail on a $50,000 bail bond. At the time of his arrest, he had been working for the Police Department for about three years.
Shepard was placed on administrative leave and stripped of his peace officer powers “as the administrative and criminal process continues,” according to the department. This week, police spokesman Sgt. Zach Eaton said Shepard was no longer an employee of the Police Department.
Sacramento police investigators initially arrested Shepard on suspicion of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, domestic violence, false imprisonment, making criminal threats of death or great bodily injury and making a threat with a gun, according to jail records.
Along with the domestic violence allegations, the Police Department was investigating Shepard for alleged anabolic steroid use.
A year ago, prosecutors declined to file domestic violence charges against Shepard, saying there was at the time “insufficient evidence to file charges and sustain a conviction on the guilt beyond a reasonable doubt standard,” according to a statement from the District Attorney’s Office.
In August, Shepard was arrested again after authorities learned he “was involved in another domestic violence incident” in San Francisco County, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office.
The prosecutors in Sacramento County then decided to file charges on Aug. 13 against Shepard based on “new criminal conduct and further investigation,” prosecutors said in the news release. On that same day, the District Attorney’s Office filed the unlawful steroid possession charges against Shepard and Officer Matthew W. Thompson, then a three-year veteran with the Police Department.
Illegal steroid possession charges
Thompson and Shepard were each charged with a misdemeanor count of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance, trenbolone acetate and testosterone enanthate, according to a filed criminal complaint. Shepard faces an additional misdemeanor count of illegal steroid possession, for a controlled substance called dromostanolone propionate.
On April 7, a judge in the steroid possession case suspended criminal proceedings and placed Thompson in a diversion program for 12 to 18 months, Assistant District Attorney Mike Blazina said in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
Blazina said the court can suspend a diverted misdemeanor case for up to 24 months and order the defendant to comply with terms, conditions or programs that the court deems appropriate. The judge can dismiss misdemeanor charges if the defendant complies with those imposed terms and conditions.
Court records show Thompson on April 20 provided the court proof he was enrolled in the diversion program. Shepard still faces misdemeanor steroid possession charges in the separate case, which is trailing the domestic violence case.
At the time of his arrest, Thompson also was placed on administrative leave. On Wednesday, Eaton said Thompson was still an employee for the Sacramento Police Department.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 12:36 PM.
