Riders Verdict

THREE COPS ACQUITTED ON EIGHT CHARGES, JURY HUNG ON REST

OAKLAND - Three former Oakland police officers were acquitted today on
eight charges they beat and framed suspected drug dealers.

The jury in "The Riders" trial deadlocked on the remaining 27 counts
against Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, 38, Jude Siapno, 35, and Matthew
Hornung, 31.

The officers were charged with conspiracy to falsely arrest, filing
false police reports, planting evidence, assaulting and kidnapping
suspects in West Oakland in 2000.

"The jury was clearly troubled by the evidence," said Police Chief
Richard Word, citing the length of the deliberations - 56 days. The
criminal trial was the longest in Alameda County history.

The chief stood by his decision to terminate the officers.

"These officers failed to comply with departmental policy and were
terminated accordingly," Word said. The officers had refused to
cooperate with Internal Affairs investigators, he said.

The verdicts surprised Acts Full Gospel Church Pastor Bob Jackson. "Oh
boy," a despondent Jackson said in a phone interview from of town.

"That's just indicative of (what goes on in) our community. Once again
(the relationship between the AA community and the police) is going to
be strained because police can do whatever they want to do and there
are no repercussions."

Jackson did not predict an outburst of violent reaction from the
African American community despite the verdicts, he said.

"I doubt it," he said of a possible rampage. "The community (is) more
intelligent" than that.

Jackson and members of his church have been at the forefront of
efforts to quell violence and uplift the black community.

Most of the charges against the former officers stemmed from
accusations the men conspired to frame suspected drug dealers and lied
in reports to validate arrests or explain injuries.

A series of notes from the jury to Judge Leo Dorado had centered
around whether anyone can be guilty of conspiring to make false
arrests if the people they arrest are actually guilty of the crime at
issue.

Attorneys for the former officers argued the purported victims were
drug dealers trying to get revenge on effective lawmen.

Vice Mayor Nancy Nadel, whose district covers the areas where the
Riders patrolled, said she was disheartened by the verdicts.

"My concern is that there were no African American people on the jury,
and while that may have been a jury of the peers of the defendants, I
feel that indirectly the plaintiffs in the case were on trial," said
Nadel.

A fourth officer, Frank Vazquez, was not tried - he is believed to
have fled prosecution.

District Attorney Tom Orloff must decide whether to retry the case on
the 27 remaining counts.

Mabanag, Siapno, Hornung, and reputed Riders leader Vazquez were fired
from their jobs as Oakland police officers after a rookie, Keith Batt,
went to internal affairs investigators in July 2000 with his
suspicions regarding a cadre of rogue officers called "The Riders."

Chief Word went on to say he continues to support settlement of the
civil case against the department because there is a need "to make
systemic and operational changes to ensure incidents such as these
never occur again."

Word was referencing the $10.9 million settlement to 119 plaintiffs
who said they were victims of the Riders, along with substantial
reforms that are to be overseen by an independent monitor.