Judge declares 'Riders' mistrial

By Glenn Chapman, STAFF WRITER



FORMER OAKLAND police officer Matthew Hornung and his wife, Tai, joyfully stride from an Oakland court-house after a jury declared Hornung not guilty in the Oakland Riders retrial. (NICK LAMMERS )
OAKLAND — The "Riders" police corruption retrial ended Thursday the same way the original proceedings did, with a jury acquitting on some of the charges and stalemated on the bulk of the counts.

"Whatever the verdicts, they represent the legitimate resolution," Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner told a packed courtroom before calling jurors down to reveal their findings. "What the jury has done is exactly what we asked them to do. They have been extraordinarily vigilant in their job."

Members of the seven-woman, five-man panel wore taut, weary expressions as they took their seats in the jury box. Horner warned spectators that outbursts would be punished by arrests. Six sheriff's deputies stood sentinel in the courtroom. More were outside.

The jury foreman assured Horner that the panel was intractably divided on 13 of the 16 felony charges in the case against Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung. The jury was evenly split on whether the former officers conspired to subvert justice by lying in reports to cover up beatings and bolster bogus arrests. Evidently, the closest they came to a conviction was eight votes in favor.

"It does appear to me the jury is hopelessly deadlocked," Horner said after jurors updated him on their status."Therefore, with regard to those charges, I declare a mistrial."

Court Clerk Nora Becerra read aloud the three not-guilty verdicts, which exonerated



Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff must now decide whether to invest in a third Riders police corruption trial after jurors deadlocked on the bulk of the charges in the case. (NICK LAMMERS)
33-year-old Hornung of the charges against him and cleared 39-year-old Mabanag of having lied in a report about seeing a drunken Kenneth Soriano elbow then-rookie Keith Batt while arresting Soriano in 2000.

Defense attorney Mike Rains clenched Mabanag's hand and leaned forward, beaming a triumphant smile to Hornung. Hornung's wife, Tai, wept with audible joy in the gallery. Hornung's lawyer, Ed Fishman, rubbed Hornung's back.

Deputy District Attorney Terry Wiley sat alone, head bowed, at a prosecution table. District Attorney Thomas Orloff watched, grim faced, from a rear row in the gallery.

Horner thanked and excused the jury, then cleared the way for Hornung to get his bail money back. Horner ordered Mabanag and 36-year-old Siapno to return to his courtroom for a June 2 hearing on whether Orloff will seek a third trial on any of the unresolved criminal counts. The judge left in place a gag order barring those involved in the proceedings from speaking about the case outside court.

After the hearing ended, Hornung's police officer wife bolted into his arms and kissed him. She smiled unabashedly as she strode with him from the courthouse. Mabanag, Hornung, Siapno and their lawyers were peppered with hugs, handshakes and congratulations as they passed through a gauntlet of supporters, many in police uniforms.

News reporters swarmed the former officers and their lawyers as they walked to a parking garage at the Oakland Museum of California



Mabanag wipes away a tear and embraces his attorney, Michael Rains, outside the courthouse after a second jury did not convict Mabanag, Hornung and Siapno, who were accused of being rogue “Riders.” (NICK LAMMERS )
across the street from the Rene Davidson Courthouse.

"This is a good day for this man," Rains said as he wrapped an arm around Mabanag. "We can't talk, but we can smile."

Orloff released a terse statement indicating he would defer discussing the case until the gag order is lifted.

"In the African-American community, there has to be a high level of disappointment, a feeling the justice system does not work for them," said Oakland attorney John Burris, who spearheaded a civil lawsuit on behalf of 119 people who claimed to have been abused by renegade Oakland cops branded the Riders.

Four of the retrial jurors were Asian, two were African American, one Latino and five white.

Those who testified to being done wrong by the Riders were African-American men arrested on West Oakland streets plagued by crack cocaine trafficking. Burris downplayed the significance of the Riders trials, saying it was more important the scandal led to court-ordered reforms at the Oakland Police Department.

"I think we have to move on and put this case behind us," Burris said.

The first Riders trial spanned more than a year and ended in September 2003 with acquittals on eight criminal counts and a polarized jury deadlocked on the remaining charges.

The case was streamlined for the retrial that started Nov. 1, 2004. Two retrial jurors were replaced with alternates during a month of deliberations. The reconstituted panel spent 16 days deliberating


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before the trial ended Thursday.

"It is what it should have been," Oakland Police Officers Association President Robert Valladon said of the outcome. "It just shows the prosecution had absolutely no case, and the citizens who sat on the jury let us know that today."

Hornung, Siapno and Mabanag and alleged Riders ringleader Frank Vazquez were charged with conspiring to cover for each other by lying in police reports to justify specious drug arrests or hide unwarranted uses of force. The men were fired from the Oakland Police Department and then criminally charged after an investigation spurred by Batt's resignation July 4, 2000, after just 10 days on the streets with Mabanag as his field training officer.

Batt, now a Pleasanton police officer, went to internal affairs investigators with a tale of brutish and dishonest methods used by his colleagues. Vazquez is believed to have fled to Mexico to avoid trial.

"Maybe some of the arrests started out OK, but then they ended up bad," said 26-year-old juror Shequoyah Kirtman, an AC Transit bus driver.

Kirtman said a few fellow jurors were adamantly opposed to convicting the former officers. Kirtman said she thought it wasn't fair to Oakland that "a lot of the jurors were from different places" and didn't live in the city.

A man who served as an alternate juror contended "the prosecution witnesses were not credible," and "the police have to do their duty."

When asked whether she would endorse a third Riders trial, Kirtman responded that the accused men "probably learned their lesson by now." Kirtman said she would be comfortable with Hornung, Siapno and Mabanag being police officers again.

"Without a doubt, we will start talking with an attorney about arbitration to get their jobs back," Valladon said. "Whether they file private lawsuits against the city is up to them."

Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale) said the jury's decision made him question the City Council's decision to settle the civil lawsuit filed by 119 people who claimed dozens of officers beat and framed them.

"It should give us pause," De La Fuente said.

Oakland City Attorney John Russo, who negotiated a $10.9 million payout to settle that suit rather than fight it in court, declined to comment on the retrial outcome Thursday.

Mayor Jerry Brown released a short statement several hours after the verdict, saying it was apparent two separate juries had been unable to determine whether the officers' actions were criminal.

"I respect the verdicts and believe our principal focus must be on achieving compliance with the negotiated settlement agreement," Brown said.

Former police Chief Richard Word, who left Oakland several months ago to take over the Vacaville Police Department, praised both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys in handling what he called a very difficult case.

"No one wins with these verdicts," Word said. "This case has cast such a dark shadow over Oakland and the Oakland (Police Department)."

"I'm extremely disappointed," said Councilmember Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland). "I think it's very important for cases to be resolved and not left hanging. ... It leaves the public unsafe. A mistrial doesn't mean they are not guilty. It doesn't say anything. They might be getting away with something. The public deserves better.

"It's hard enough as it is to build trust (in the police by the African-American community)," Nadel said. "But if there's no resolution, it's very difficult."

Rashidah Grinage, a member of People United for a Better Oakland, a police watchdog group, said she was disappointed but not surprised.

"I think the average person finds it extremely difficult to believe officers are capable of deliberate criminal behavior," Grinage said.

Staff writers Cecily Burt, Heather MacDonald and Paul T. Rosynsky contributed to this report.