Pubdate: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA) Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers Contact: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314 Author: Glenn Chapman, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Oakland+Riders Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) RANCOR IN THE JURY ROOM Some Panel Members Say They Were Not Listened To OAKLAND -- A faction of jurors in the "Riders" case said Wednesday they believe the three former Oakland police officers were guilty of abusing their power three years ago, but that their opinions were marginalized by the jury foreman and others. And the jury's failure to unanimously agree on 27 of the 35 charges against Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung was a reflection of deliberations that took on the aspects of "a dysfunctional family," they said in interviews. "There were people who were firmly convinced of guilt, and others who resisted that notion," one juror said. "We just worked as hard as we could to promote the way we saw this from the evidence, too hard to be dismissed as people who couldn't come to a decision." The juror said one faction sided with the West Oakland residents who testified about being framed or beaten by the former officers in the summer of 2000. Two of the jurors said efforts to argue guilt were summarily rebuffed by the foreman and two of his allies, jointly nicknamed "the three musketeers." One member of that trio was tagged "Cowboy," and said his work in West Oakland had taught him about "those people," another juror said Wednesday. "Three people decided for their own agendas they were not going to convict these guys," said one juror, who thought the fired cops did some of what prosecutor David Hollister charged. "They would laugh and make fun of us, saying we weren't going to change their minds. "We were really upset, and we couldn't do nothing," the juror added. "We told the judge, and he didn't want to know what was going on in the jury room." Contents of jury notes were debated by prosecution and defense attorneys before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Leo Dorado crafted replies to the questions. Law precluded Dorado from tampering with jury deliberations. Another juror said an array of questions sent to Dorado during the 56 days of deliberation were designed to elicit responses that would show the jury foreman -- a night law student -- was mistaken in his interpretation of the law or evidence. The foreman, the youngest member of the jury, declared the case against the Riders bogus within the first 15 minutes of deliberations and didn't budge, other jurors said. The foreman was quoted in a newspaper report Wednesday as saying the problem with the Riders case was that both of the prosecution's key witnesses -- former Oakland police rookie Keith Batt -- and the sergeant who headed the internal affairs investigation came across as liars. Jurors said in interviews Wednesday the foreman stated early in deliberations he was convinced Hornung, Siapno and Mabanag were being made scapegoats for political ends and that charges in the case should never have been filed. "(The foreman) really worked, playing the role of defense lawyer, as if he were practicing," a juror said of the law student. "I didn't understand why he was so close-minded. When we presented evidence, he came up with an out of context, no logic, response." An effort to vote the foreman out was unsuccessful. By the final days of deliberations, the foreman reportedly responded to debate attempts by reading a newspaper and ignoring the person arguing the opposing position, according to the jurors. A woman in the foreman's camp would carefully tend to her make-up. The Cowboy reportedly piped up at one point that the cops in Oakland did what they had to do to fight crime. "You put up with this crap for four months, then try to beat it down and defeat it," a juror said of his frustration in trying to debate the Riders' purported innocence. "There was stuff that was overwhelming, proven over and over to our satisfaction." The juror cited 13 charges in which the final votes showed six or more panelists in favor of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Some jurors won over by the evidence presented by Hollister said they were heartened to see there were "a lot of really good cops in Oakland" and praised those officers who took stands for police ethics and honesty. Some jurors voiced admiration for Batt and Oakland police Officer Steve Hewison, who were called to testify they saw the Riders employ illegal tactics, such as pouncing on suspected drug dealers without proper cause and writing false reports to justify arrests. "Here was the classic smear of the whistle-blower," one juror said, rejecting the defense's argument that Batt and Hewison conspired to ruin the careers of veteran cops. "I would like to reach out to Hewison. You could see the mask of agony and tension on his face when he testified." Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff is mulling whether to retry Mabanag, Hornung and Siapno on any or all of the 27 charges that the Riders jury deadlocked on this week. The jury acquitted the accused men on eight charges. Dorado declared mistrials on the remaining counts. Shortening the proceedings and streamlining the charges would improve the odds of jurors being able to agree on verdicts, according to some members of the panel dismissed this week. Shortening the trial would also make it possible to get more young and ethnically diverse candidates in the jury pool, because those with less financial security would be more able to afford the time off to serve. The prospect of spending months on a jury was a key factor in culling prospective jurors from the original pool of nearly 700 people called during the selection process for the Riders trial, which opened Sept. 12, 2002. That jury began deliberations May 29 of this year. The Riders jury was comprised of seven men and five women. The jurors were two Latinas, an Asian woman, a Hawaiian man and eight white men and women. Two African-American women served as alternate jurors, attending the trial but not taking part in deliberations. One of those women was visibly chagrined when court clerk Rhoda Nishiyama read the "not guilty" verdicts in court Tuesday. The alternate juror was adamant in her belief that having blacks on the jury would have changed the outcome. "If the D.A. can't convict these guys with that jury, they will never convict them,' said Mabanag's attorney, Mike Rains, who maintained the panel was weighted in favor of the prosecution at the outset. "The fact you had three guys who were smart, a little conservative, and saw through all the crap thrown up by the prosecution is wonderful." Rains contended the case was one of evidence and not race. Rains noted that the Constitution guarantees defendants, not witnesses, to juries of their peers. Mabanag, 38, and Siapno, 35, are Filipino. Hornung, 31, is white. Purported Riders leader Frank Vazquez is believed to have fled to his native Mexico. "The race card was never an issue and only became an issue since someone didn't get the result they wanted," Rains said. "We were looking for jurors who cared about law and order, cared about police officers, and were conservative minded. Half the jury didn't fit that bill at all. We settled for that jury." Rains conceded that the defense team excused several blacks from the jury without stating reasons, but pointed out the prosecution exercised the same right to excuse two candidates who shared his client's Filipino heritage. "The prosecution will not be able to put 12 congenital idiots up there, they are going to get at least one or two cowboys," Rains said of the prospect of a new trial. "If this case had been tried anywhere outside Alameda County, I think these guys would have walked." Rains lauded Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff's ability and judgment, saying Orloff is a conscientious prosecutor misled by the unreliable results of an internal affairs probe done by Sgt. Jon Madarang. Hollister and Orloff remain steadfast in their confidence in Madarang's findings. Meanwhile, federal officials are considering the possibility of pursuing a civil rights violation case against The Riders. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake