EX-COPS CLEARED OF 8 CHARGES, JURY HUNG ON 27

OAKLAND -- Months of deliberations in the infamous "Riders" trial
ended with a hopelessly "polarized" jury acquitting three fired
Oakland cops of some abuse charges and unable to come to verdicts on
all the other counts.

Mistrials were declared regarding 27 criminal charges on which jurors
were irreconcilably divided. Alameda County District Attorney Thomas
Orloff is exploring whether to try that portion of the case over in
front of a new jury.

"The last chapter in this case has not been written yet," Orloff said
after jurors declared the accused Riders not guilty on eight criminal
counts, ranging from kidnapping and assault to conspiring to make a
false arrest. "It is a very important case to us ... It questions the
very integrity of the system."

Defense attorneys hailed the jury's actions Tuesday as exoneration for
Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung and said
they would battle to win them back their jobs as Oakland police officers.

"A horrific amount of money was spent to try to convict these guys in
front of one of the best juries a prosecutor could want," Mabanag's
attorney, Mike Rains, said while lambasting the concept of a retrial.
"It could only get worse for the prosecution."

Orloff is to reveal his decision about potential retrial at an Oct. 15
hearing in the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. Mabanag, 38,
Hornung, 31, and Siapno, 35, remain free on bail.

"Keep it simple, is my advice," one juror said, telling an Oakland
Tribune reporter the amount of evidence presented over the course of
nine months was overwhelming. "Otherwise, people will not be able to
cope."

Jurors interviewed by The Tribune after the panel was dismissed
described their 56 days of deliberation as polarized from the outset,
with the fore-man proclaiming on day one there was too much reasonable
doubt to convict on any of the 35 charges. The divided camps were
described as "conservative" and "liberal," with one inclined to trust
police and the other being skeptical of the integrity of cops. One
juror concluded Batt "couldn't cowboy up" and face the teasing by
peers and demands of the tough cop job.

Middle-ground jurors were open minded regarding their positions, but
the opposing factions reportedly tended not to budge. Some jurors
agreed "some nasty stuff took place on the streets, but the evidence
does not prove it," according to one juror.

"The thing that was scary was, at the end, it felt like the
personalities overtook the whole thing," a juror observed. "The sad
thing was, the case was there but it was about people proving
themselves right and getting over on the other person. It was ugly, so
ugly."

One faction of jurors deemed the prosecution's star witnesses, then
police rookies Keith Batt and Steve Hewison, as unbelievable and felt
Sgt. Jon Madarang's work leading the internal affairs investigation
was so shoddy that it was sapped of credibility. The prosecution would
have been wiser to rely on the work of District Attorney's Office
Inspector Bob Conner, who impressed jurors with his professionalism
and thoroughness, some jurors said.

Jurors dismissed, or gave little weight, to the admitted drug sellers
and users who testified as victims at trial, according to some
panelists. One juror referred to purported beating victim Delphine
Allen contending supposed Riders ringleader Frank Vazquez picked him
up by his eye sockets and held him aloft while Mabanag beat the soles
of Allen's feet.

"There was a lot of unbelievable stuff going on in there," one juror
said, "there were so many stories that didn't jibe."

Not all jurors believed Mabanag and Siapno, who testified, but the
fired officers struck the panel as veterans who "have been some
places." One alternate juror, who was not part of deliberations,
openly decried the absence of any African Americans on the panel that
decided the fates of "The Riders." One of 12 main jurors expressed
certainty that deliberations would have benefited from perspective of
a black juror.

All of those who testified to abuses by cops called "The Riders" were
black. Mabanag and Siapno are Filipino, while Hornung is white and
Vazquez is Mexican. Vazquez remains a fugitive.

"I've never had a case that fundamentally meant more to me, personally
and professionally, than this case," said David Hollister, the
prosecutor who devoted years to the case before leaving to take
another job. "There are firm lines that can't be crossed. This case
highlighted those lines.

"I am very proud of the system and thoroughly respect the work of the
jurors," he continued. "I am dissolutioned, in the result, not the
process .. I don't think I've ever had a case with this much evidence
of the person's guilt."

Hollister expressed outrage the fired officers "were able to ride on
the coattails of their profession and the reputations of the honest
cops who came before them."

Nearly all the men who testified to being wronged by "The Riders" were
linked to West Oakland's illicit drug scene. Defense attorneys argued
to the jury that drug dealers coordinated fake stories to get revenge
on effective law men.

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

Jurors found Siapno not guilty of kidnapping Matthew Watson and badly
beating him under a freeway overpass one summer night. Watson was
killed earlier this year while the victim of a carjacking in Oakland.

An undertone to the trial was the contention of "Noble Cause
Corruption," the inference it is morally acceptable to do nasty things
to despicable people. Notes from the jury during deliberations hinted
they were grappling with that concept.

Jurors also declared Mabanag, Hornung and Siapno not guilty of
conspiring to falsely arrest Jabaree Highsmith.

The bulk of the charges stem from accusations the men conspired to
frame suspected drug dealers and lied in reports to validate arrests
or explain injuries.

While the criminal trial was under way, Oakland officials paid out
nearly $11 million to settle a civil suit filed on behalf of more than
100 people who claimed to have been abused by "The Riders."

Rains decried City Attorney John Russo and other city officials as
orchestrating a campaign to scapegoat Mabanag, Siapno and Hornung.
Rains said he remained angered by the timing of the settlement, which
he contends was announced during the trial in an effort to prod jurors
toward guilty verdicts.

Word publicly affirm Tuesday his condemnation of the behavior of "The
Riders" and described the fired officers as "a cancer" that needed to
be cut out of his department.

"I thought there would be some guilty verdicts," Word said. "This is
our style of justice. It's not perfect, it's not ideal but we have to
respect it."

Word said he remains satisfied with how the internal investigation was
conducted and its outcome, particularly his decision to fire the officers.

"The city has no obligation to rehire the officers, absolutely not.
The fact that they had a hung jury is not a declaration of innocence,"
said Russo. "I don't see any scenario where they will get their jobs
back, unless the court forces us to do so."

Word extolled the reform package implemented because of the Riders
scandal, saying the changes are improving police work in this city.

"My view is the police are doing a hell of a job, I back them 100
percent," Mayor Jerry Brown said Tuesday. "I think these things can
put it to rest .. given the fact that the jury spoke and we have
invested millions of dollars in putting greater controls to avoid the
kind of abuses that did in fact happen in this case, and that
justified the firing of these police officers."

Rains said the defense tab was close to $2 million and estimated the
prosecution costs had to rival that amount. Orloff countered that
there were few "marginal costs" associated with the prosecution
because the prosecutor, court staff, and other expenses were fixed
parts of the budget.

The amount budgeted for Riders jury lunches during deliberations was
nearly $11,000, and another $30,000 total was racked up in overall pay
to jurors, who were also compensated for mileage.

"We fired these cops because we thought they did not observe the kinds
of standards we require and the law requires," Brown said. "I stand
behind that judgment, I don't believe they are going to get their jobs
back. They've lost their pensions, they had to sit through a grueling
trial, they've been punished quite a lot."