Eastern District of California Blog

Sgt. Manfredi & 3 Former Fresno Police Officers Found Not Guilty

Fresno police Sgt. Michael Manfredi and former Fresno police officers Paul Van Dalen, Chris Coleman, and Sean Plymale were found not guilty today by a Fresno federal jury on charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice. This was their second trial; the first hung. Fresno Bee

 

Jury In Manfredi Excessive Force Trial To Resume Deliberations Tuesday

Jury went home in the federal criminal trial of Fresno police Sgt & 3 former officers. Jury deliberations will resume Tuesday.

— pablo lopez (@beecourts) February 7, 2014

Fresno Excessive Force Retrial Winding Down

According to Fresno Bee reporter Pablo Lopez (twitter @beecourts), Fresno Police Sgt. Michael Manfredi took the stand today as the retrial against him and three former Fresno police officers winds down.  Closings expected later this week.

Two Interesting EDCA Re-Trials To Start Next Week

In Sacramento, on Monday, 9:00 a.m., a retrial starts before Judge Mueller in United States v. Khan, No. 2:10-CR-175-KJM, a case involving drug and gun charges that ended in a hung jury last year.  Legendary San Francisco defense attorney Tony Serra represents Khan; AUSAs Jason Hitt and William Wong for the government.

In Fresno, on Tuesday, 8:30 a.m., a jury trial in Judge Ishii's courtroom begins in the Coleman police excessive force/obstruction case against Fresno Police Sgt. Michael Manfredi and three former officers.  The first trial ended in a hung jury.  See my prior Coleman case blog posts. The trial is estimated to last five weeks.

Fresno Police Brutality Case Set For January 2014 Re-Trial

Yesterday, Judge Ishii scheduled the retrial in the Coleman civil rights prosecution for January 14, 2014.  Fresno Bee, 4/15/13.

Feds To Retry Fresno Police Brutality/Obstruction Case

Federal prosecutors announced yesterday that they intend to retry the police brutality/obstruction of justice case against Fresno Police Sgt. Michael Manfredi and three former officers after the initial jury could not reach an unanimous verdict.  Fresno Bee, 3/18/13.  A futher hearing is set for April 15, 2013.

EDCA Case Updates

After the hung jury, the Coleman, et. al. excessive force case, see my prior posts here, is now set for a status conference March 18, 2013, before Judge Ishii in Fresno.  Presumably, the government will announce whether it will retry the case.

The consolidated appeals over the California gay conversion therapy ban have been set for argument in the Ninth Circuit in courtroom 1 on April 17, 9:30 a.m. in San Francisco.  The briefs, including more than 20 Amici briefs, are available here.

 

Hung Jury in Fresno Police Brutality Trial

The federal criminal trial of a Fresno police sergeant and three former officers ended abruptly Friday after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 9-3 to find the defendants not guilty of charges of police brutality and obstruction of justice.

Fresno Bee, 2/8/13

Defense Presents Testimony That Victim Spoke A Little English In Police Brutality Trial

For more than three weeks, the prosecution has contended that the suspect at the center of a Fresno police brutality trial in federal court spoke only Spanish.

Tuesday, Rolando Celdon's ex-girlfriend, Veronica Rivera, testified that he speaks English "a little bit" and understand it better than he speaks it, and pretends to speak only Spanish when it suits him.

Rivera's testimony for the defense was a blow to the prosecution's case because since the start of the U.S. District Court trial on Jan. 10 prosecutors have contended that Celdon didn't understand the commands of the English-speaking defendants.

Because Celdon wouldn't comply with the officers' commands to surrender, defense lawyers say police were forced to punch and kick Celdon, and shoot him with stun gun and bean-bag shotgun. Celdon also was bitten by a police dog when he ran from police.

Fresno Bee, 2/5/13

Sgt. Manfredi Continues Testimony Friday In Police Brutality Trial

A Fresno police sergeant testified Friday in his federal criminal trial that he "launch kicked" a piece of evidence -- a beer bottle -- from a handcuffed suspect.

"I felt like an idiot" about doing it, Sgt. Michael Manfredi told the jury in the police-brutality trial in U.S. District Court.

Though Manfredi couldn't say how far the bottle traveled, prosecutors say it was discovered more than 100 feet from suspect Rolando Celdon.

Another defendant, former Fresno police officer Sean Plymale, already has testified he later picked up the bottle and placed it next to Celdon.

Manfredi's admission poked a hole in the prosecution's theory that Plymale planted the bottle evidence during the arrest of Celdon, who was punched and kicked, bitten by a police dog, shot with a stun gun, and blasted several times with a bean-bag shotgun in October 2005. But Manfredi wasn't able to refute all the prosecution's case, including his admission that his police report had inaccurate information regarding Celdon holding a stick and bottle to fend off a police dog.

Fresno Bee, 2/1/13

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/02/01/3157132/police-brutality-trial-fresno.html#storylink=cpy