The decision could come after prosecutors lay out their case against Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli at a preliminary hearing Monday in Superior Court in Santa Ana.
Prosecutors say the officers are responsible for the July death of 37-year-old Kelly Thomas during an investigation of reported car burglaries at a transit hub where numerous buses come and go and commuters park in the Orange County city of Fullerton.
Ramos has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Cicinelli has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and excessive force.
A bus surveillance tape showed agitated witnesses describing how officers beat Thomas and used a stun gun on him repeatedly as he cried out for his father.
A cell phone video taken from a distance was posted online after the incident. Authorities have said city surveillance cameras also captured footage, but it hasn't been made public.
John Barnett, Ramos' attorney, said he expected prosecutors would show video footage of the incident at the hearing but did not believe it would constitute sufficient evidence to try the officers on homicide charges.
"The conduct was appropriate given the circumstances that no excessive force was used and that officer Ramos was doing not only what he is permitted to do, but what he is required to do," Barnett said.
A message left for Cicinelli's attorney Michael Schwartz was not returned.
The FBI launched an investigation shortly after the July 5, 2011, incident to determine if Thomas' civil rights were violated. That probe is ongoing.
Prosecutors say the beating began after two officers responded to reports that a homeless person was looking in cars and rattling door handles.
The officers stopped Thomas and searched his backpack and asked him to sit on the curb. But the shirtless man, who suffered from schizophrenia, had trouble complying, prosecutors said, at which point Ramos put on a pair of latex gloves, leaned down and threatened him with his fists.
At that moment, what began as a fairly routine police investigation turned into a beating, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Ramos, a 10-year veteran, punched Thomas in the ribs, tackled him and lay on him to pin him down. They say Cicinelli, a 12-year-veteran of the force who arrived on the scene later, used a Taser four times on Thomas as he screamed in pain and also hit him in the face eight times with the Taser.
Thomas lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. He was taken off life support and died five days later.
The coroner concluded that Thomas died from mechanical compression of the thorax, which made it impossible for him to breathe normally and deprived his brain of oxygen. Other face and head injuries contributed to his death, prosecutors said.
A preliminary hearing is held to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to proceed to trial.
Six Fullerton police officers responded to the incident. All were placed on paid administrative leave and are facing an internal investigation but only Ramos and Cicinelli were criminally charged.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last as long as two days, said Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County district attorney's office. She declined to state what evidence prosecutors would introduce at the hearing.
