Jury acquits AMPM employee in self-defense case, lawyer criticizes prosecutor's actions

REDDING, California — Shannon Rawlins was an AMPM employee when Miguel Padilla walked into the North Redding supermarket in January 2023.

“This is an incident where someone was overserved at a bar, came in aggressively, tried to attack someone half his size, got into an argument with Mr. Rawlins, didn't listen, didn't want to leave when asked to leave and then attacked Mr. Rawlins. Then Mr. Rawlins defended himself and unfortunately someone lost their life in the process,” said defense attorney Scott McMillan.

In June 2024, a jury found Rawlins not guilty.

Now McMillan wants to hold the prosecution accountable for knowingly presenting false evidence.

When asked about the case, the prosecutor's office responded with the following statement: “Throughout the case, our prosecutor has sought justice for the victim, Miguel Padilla, and even successfully took the case to the Third District Court of Appeals to challenge an earlier dismissal of the murder charge by the superior court. Despite our prosecutor's extensive efforts to obtain a different result, we respect the thought and consideration the jury put into its verdict.”

“I was very disappointed in how it went down… The prosecutor said her comments said things that obviously didn't happen on the video. I never once kicked him, I never once kicked him when he was on the ground. Every time he went down, I stepped back, got out of the way and asked him to leave. I never touched the guy in any way when he was on the ground and that's what the video shows,” Shannon Rawlins said.

Since his release, Rawlins has had difficulty finding a job and attending public events with his family, which he says is due to the publicity surrounding the case.

He thanked his lawyer for sticking with him in the case, even though he himself had often wanted to give up.

“I mean, we spent a year and a half there and lost almost everything, you know… This shouldn't have happened. It was a tragic incident that should never have happened in the first place,” Rawlins said.