Clifford Proctor pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the 2015 shooting of 29-year-old Brendon Glenn near the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A former Los Angeles Police Department officer has been indicted again on a second-degree murder charge in the 2015 fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Venice, reviving a criminal case that was dismissed by a judge earlier this summer.
Clifford Proctor, 61, is accused of killing Brendon Glenn, 29, during an encounter near the Venice Beach Boardwalk on May 5, 2015. A Los Angeles County grand jury returned the latest indictment Aug. 18, and it was unsealed Aug. 31. Proctor pleaded not guilty to one count of second-degree murder with a special allegation that he personally used a firearm. The new prosecution comes after a judge dismissed an earlier indictment in June, finding problems with the evidence presented to the first grand jury.
The shooting occurred after Proctor and his partner responded to an area near the boardwalk where Glenn had been removed from a bar and became involved in a dispute with others, according to prosecutors and previous reports on the case. Officers attempted to detain and arrest Glenn during a struggle. Proctor then fired, killing him. Glenn was unarmed. Prosecutors now allege that the circumstances of the confrontation support a finding that Proctor acted with implied malice, a required element of second-degree murder.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office believes there is sufficient evidence to prove the murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Hochman assigned special prosecutor Michael Gennaco, an attorney with extensive experience reviewing police use-of-force cases, to examine the evidence and present the matter to a new grand jury. Prosecutors allege Glenn did not pose a deadly threat to the officers before he was shot and say Proctor’s partner did not believe Glenn presented such a threat.
Prosecutors have also cited Proctor’s conduct before and after the shooting as part of their case. The District Attorney’s Office alleges that Proctor became angry during the encounter and threatened Glenn’s dog before the shooting. Prosecutors further allege that Proctor later asked a witness to support an inaccurate version of what had happened. Those allegations have not been proven at trial, and Proctor is presumed innocent unless convicted.
Proctor has maintained that the shooting was justified. Earlier accounts of the case said he believed Glenn was reaching toward his partner’s gun during the struggle. The question of whether Proctor reasonably perceived a deadly threat has divided prosecutors and investigators for years. In March 2018, then-Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office declined to file criminal charges after reviewing the shooting, concluding there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Proctor had acted unlawfully in self-defense or in defense of another officer.
The case was later reopened under District Attorney George Gascón, who appointed special prosecutor Lawrence Middleton to conduct another review. A grand jury indicted Proctor on second-degree murder in September 2024. He was arrested in October 2025. That prosecution ended in June 2026 when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen dismissed the indictment.
Coen found that the earlier grand jury had not been given sufficient evidence supporting the element of malice and had not received legally required evidence that could have favored the defense. The ruling did not prevent prosecutors from seeking a new indictment. Hochman, who succeeded Gascón as district attorney, ordered another examination of the case and ultimately sent it back to a grand jury with Gennaco handling the presentation.
The renewed prosecution highlights how differently three Los Angeles County district attorneys have approached the same police shooting. Lacey’s office declined criminal charges, Gascón’s administration pursued the first murder indictment, and Hochman’s office sought the latest indictment after the earlier case was dismissed. Hochman has said those differing conclusions were one reason he brought in an outside special prosecutor to reassess the evidence.
The shooting drew public scrutiny soon after Glenn’s death. Then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the available evidence led him to recommend that prosecutors consider criminal charges against Proctor. Glenn’s relatives later pursued civil claims against the city, and Los Angeles agreed to pay $4 million to settle wrongful-death litigation filed by his family. A civil settlement does not determine criminal guilt.
The latest indictment carries a potential sentence of up to life in state prison if Proctor is convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The firearm allegation could also affect sentencing if prosecutors obtain a conviction. Proctor’s not-guilty plea means prosecutors must prove each element of the charge in court, including their allegation that his actions amounted to second-degree murder rather than a legally justified use of deadly force.
The case has now stretched more than 11 years from the Venice shooting through several reviews, two grand jury indictments and the dismissal of the first prosecution. The second indictment remains pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court. No finding of guilt has been made, and the allegations against Proctor will have to be tested through the criminal court process.
Author note: Last updated September 6, 2026.