As Number of Alternate Jurors Dwindles, Mistrial Looms in Deputies' Beating Case

With no alternative jurors left and one panelist expressing difficulty focusing, the specter of a mistrial loomed Wednesday for two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies accused of punching a handcuffed, mentally ill inmate and then trying to cover it up.

The second day of the federal civil rights trial for deputies Joey Aguiar and Mariano Ramirez ended shortly after the lunch break to allow a juror, who works in the financial industry, to return to his office and make plans to have his clients handled by a colleague.

Earlier, the last remaining alternate was dismissed due to having a relative working in law enforcement, and on Tuesday, a juror was let go after telling the judge she had mental issues.

U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell was told by the stockbroker panelist that he couldn’t concentrate on the morning’s testimony due to worries sparked by turmoil in the global markets.

After discussing the issue with attorneys for the prosecution and defense, the judge called the juror back and asked if he would be able to give his full attention to the case Thursday.

“I think I can,” he responded. “I will try my best.”

O’Connell indicated that the man -- a “sitting juror,” she called him - - is bound to serve regardless of his work problems. She said that the broker could make his client calls on breaks, if need be.

After the jury filed out, the judge said her options include holding court from noon to 6 p.m., to give the juror time to deal with the Dow’s East Coast hours, or declaring a mistrial if all else fails.

O’Connell said a decision would be made Thursday morning as to how to proceed.

The batch of several dozen potential jurors Tuesday expressed a wide range of issues that precluded them serving, including one woman who told the judge that as a practicing Buddhist, she could not pass judgment on others.

Aguiar and Ramirez are the latest of nearly two-dozen current and former sheriff’s employees to be tried by federal authorities in connection with a probe into brutality and other misconduct in the sheriff’s department when Lee Baca was sheriff.

The indictment allehes Aguiar and Ramirez violated the civil rights of a defenseless Bret Phillips by assaulting him inside Men’s Central Jail on the morning of Feb. 11, 2009.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams told the jury during her opening statement that the inmate was handcuffed to a waist chain when he was “smashed” against a concrete wall, kicked and punched in the head and upper body, struck with a flashlight and pepper-sprayed in the face.

The prosecutor said the alleged minute-long attack amounted to “abuse of power, abuse of the badge. It was criminal.”

Defense attorneys countered that their clients were only doing what was necessary to contain a violent inmate who refused to follow orders.

“Sometimes, a deputy must use force,” attorney Vicki Podberesky told the jury. “It was force that was reasonable under the circumstances.” Another defense lawyer, Evan Jenness, told the panel that only a lawful amount of force was used against Phillips in order to “restore order and gain control of a violent and recalcitrant inmate.”

Prosecutors contend the deputies were angered when Phillips threw a milk carton, which landed on Aguiar’s shoe.

--City News Service