Jury acquits on several counts, deadlocks on others in 'Riders' case

AP ^ | 5/19/5 | KIM CURTIS

[SmithL]

Oakland, Calif. (AP) --

A jury on Thursday acquitted three former police officers on several counts against them, while deadlocking on others, involving charges they assaulted people, falsified reports and conspired to obstruct justice while working the night beat in West Oakland.

Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, 39, Matthew Hornung, 33, and Jude Siapno, 36, were accused of committing more than a dozen felonies during a two-week period in the summer of 2000.

Mabanag was acquitted Thursday on one count of making false statements in police reports. The jury deadlocked on three other false statement counts and a charge of filing a false police report.

Hornung was acquitted on the only two counts filed against him — making a false statement in a police report and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Jurors deadlocked on all counts against Siapno, who faced the most serious charges,

[SmithL]

This is what happened in the previous trial, some acquittals, and a few deadlocked charges, and no convictions. The prosecutors don't seem to be able to prove their case.

[riverrunner]

The next question well they keep after them until they find a jury to convict.

[Smogger]

The moral of the story is you have to have a videotape of the cop committing crimes if you want any chance of a conviction.

[Ramonan]

Your problem is that in that area, ONLY cops enforce the law. Police Officials, City "leaders" and prosecutors take the criminal's side. From SF Chron:One juror, Shequoyah Kirtman, 26, of Oakland, said she wouldn't necessarily be concerned about the defendants being back on the streets as police officers.

[OneTimeLurker]

"From SF Chron:One juror, Shequoyah Kirtman, 26, of Oakland, said she wouldn't necessarily be concerned about the defendants being back on the streets as police officers."

Makes sense on some level. A crooked cop can do a lot more damage than a single dumb criminal.