Posted on 09/19/2002 12:08:29 PM PDT by USA21
Batt: I was warned not to 'snitch'
OAKLAND -- The rookie cop whose resignation exposed a purportedly corrupt police cabal spent Wednesday telling jurors of "The Riders" and their wrath.
Keith Batt was called as the first witness in the criminal case against former Oakland police officers Matthew Hornung, Clarence Mabanag and Jude Siapno.
Batt, 25, is now an officer with the Pleasanton Police Department and was dressed in his blue uniform. Hornung, Mabanag and Siapno watched expressionlessly from the defense table as Batt took the stand to tell what he learned of the Riders and their ways during 10 shifts under Mabanag's tutelage in 2000.
The accused men wore suits. They were fired from their jobs as Oakland police officers after a probe triggered by Batt's stated reasons for quitting the Oakland Police Department on July 4, 2000.
Jurors jotted notes and interjected questions as Assistant District Attorney David Hollister prompted Batt to recount what he heard, saw and felt while patrolling West Oakland with officers dubbed "Riders."
Batt told of graduating from the 146th Oakland Police Academy a couple of weeks before meeting his field training officer, Mabanag, on June 18, 2000. Mabanag, Hornung, Siapno, and purported Riders leader Francisco Vazquez, were among the seemingly revered officers as-
signed to Batt's dogwatch shift, which began at 9 p.m. and ended the following 7 a.m.
Batt had heard talk of Mabanag being tough and tormenting rookies. Among the things Mabanag imparted to Batt was reportedly a warning not to "snitch." Mabanag instructed Batt the chain of command began with him.
Department lore was the Riders got their name from a citizen stopped one day by day-shift officers. The man thanked the officers for treating him decently, and contended that "The Riders" who patrolled the streets after midnights beat people and "put dope on them."
Mabanag relished the tale, Batt said.
"He retold the story several times nightly and thought it was funny," Batt said. "It wasn't formally defined who was a Rider and who was not, but I had an understanding who wanted to be involved. ... It was clear who stayed together and who kept their distance."
At one point, Hollister handed Batt an autographed softball portrayed as a Riders roster. The ball had been passed around the police locker room during Batt's first week on the job and was a get well gift for an officer whose leg was broken.
Siapno reportedly intervened when the softball was offered to Batt to sign, announcing Batt wasn't a Rider yet.
"Riders" was written on the ball in large letters. At Hollister's behest, Batt read aloud the monickers inked on the orb. Among the names were "Chuck X" Mabanag, "St. Jude" Siapno, "Space Monkey" Hornung, and Vazquez.
Siapno had another nickname, "the foot doctor," because of his penchant for hitting people in the feet with a baton, Batt said.
'Police misconduct, illegal behavior'
"(Siapno) kept asking if I wanted to see the dark side," Batt said, shifting his gaze from Hollister to jurors as he testified. "It meant beating people ... police misconduct, illegal behavior."
Batt was at the eight incidents from which stem the 26 criminal counts in the case against 37-year-old Mabanag, 30-year-old Hornung, and 34-year-old Siapno. Vazquez is being sought by authorities, who suspect he fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution.
Hollister charges the officers used brutal and illegal tactics, then falsified reports to cover up misdeeds.
Hollister had Batt begin detailing the encounters. Batt told of Mabanag delivering on a promise Batt would be in a fight his first night on the street. The clash erupted after Batt and Mabanag arrived at an Adeline Street home where a car had been stolen.
The owner of a barking Rottweiler in a fenced front yard of the house took umbrage to Mabanag commenting he'd shoot the dog if it attacked him. The man, Kenneth Soriano, emanated the odor of alcohol and vowed he would retaliate if the dog were hurt.
Mabanag decided to arrest Soriano for being drunk in public. Soriano kept his arms from being twisted back by the officers, who were trying to get Soriano handcuffed, Batt said. Mabanag choked Soriano until he gasped for breath and surrendered, Batt said.
Mabanag toppled Soriano, face down, and plopped on top of him, according to Batt. Siapno and Vazquez arrived as "cover" and kicked and beat Soriano on the ground, Batt said.
After taking Soriano to jail, Mabanag added information in a blank portion left on Soriano's statement form, above the signature, according to Batt.
Mabanag wrote that Soriano apologized and that the officers didn't beat him, Batt said. Mabanag reported that Soriano elbowed Batt, thereby attacking an officer.
"I was realizing that my field training officer was falsifying a police report," Batt said. "It bothered me ... I knew it wasn't the right thing to be doing."
Mabanag allegedly told Batt the "trick" was necessary to justify arrests and explain injuries. Batt went on to describe reports being doctored on other nights, when Riders sprang from an unmarked van and grabbed young men while "hitting corners" known for drug dealing.
Batt did as instructed, even copying bogus reports verbatim and endorsing them, because he believed Mabanag had the power to get him fired.
Among those listening from the gallery was John Burris, the attorney representing 116 Oakland residents suing the city and its Police Department on the grounds that their rights were abused by Riders.
"I wanted to hear him testify," Burris said. "It shows the underbelly of policing; the code of silence, and bad field training officers perpetuating bad policing."
Defense attorneys vowed to use cross examination to reveal Batt has modified his Riders tales to bolster the case against the trio.
"Keith Batt is cunning, deceitful and cannot be trusted," said defense lawyer Mike Rains.
Instead of admitting he didn't have the mettle to fight crime in West Oakland, Batt shifted blame to officers who hazed him, Rains said.
"There are so many contradictions between accounts of things," said defense attorney William Rapoport. "It is almost fascinating, if it wasn't so sad."
Batt returns to the stand in Alameda County Superior Court Judge Leo Dorado's courtroom today to continue his Riders saga.
'Oakland ... going to blow up'
"If they let these officers go, Oakland is going to blow up," Joyce Taylor of North Oakland predicted. "Having a badge and a gun doesn't make you God."
Taylor was among the eight protesters at the courthouse Wednesday. Born in Oakland in 1950, Taylor said she was a member of the original Black Panther Party. The hospice nurse wore a smock decorated with alligators dressed as medics, and a stethoscope hung from her neck.
"Even as I'm speaking now, some police officer is kicking someone's a-- in this city," Taylor said, adding the target was most likely someone of color. "More people would cooperate with police if they didn't come in there like Rambo."
Protesters said they represented community groups Pueblo and Let's Get Free. They argued a campaign to add 100 more cops to Oakland's police force would only serve to increase the size of the army operating under a city mandate to stop criminals by whatever means necessary.
"This is not about a few bad apples," said Jessy Fernandez of Let's Be Free. "It's about widespread corruption in the Oakland Police Department."
Yep, that's how the crime and corruption typical infiltrates. That is, a cop chooses to abide external authority (peers) rather than his individual authority to uphold honesty justice.
In each person's life internal authority takes precedence over external authority. That some people choose to sacrifice their own authority to external authority is always a net negative/loss to themselves.
hush hush
FMCDH
Boonie Rat
MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66
When agencies use alternative hiring policies, not looking for the best qualified but trying to fill some quota to make the politicians smile, this is the result you get.
When supervisors are not held accountable for the conduct of their officers, are poor trained or are not them selves properly supervised, this is the result you get.
Any good officer will tell you, when it comes down to covering up a crime for another officer, "Is he going to feed my family if I get fired, I don't think so." The only officers who are willing to cover up criminal activity are the ones engaged themselves in some sort of criminal activity.
If they are found guilty they should receive the max penalty. They will have disgraced their uniforms, humiliated the other officers in the department, violated their oath of office, trashed the public trust and cost us taxpayers another outrageous settlement.
But hold everyone accountable right up to the chief of police and the mayor. Ho, sorry that only happens in republican controlled cities this is Oakland.
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