By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

May 31, 2001

OAKLAND - Anthony Miller is a crack addict.

He readily admits that fact. He readily admits a lot about his drug use, treatment failure and arrests.

But on Wednesday as he faced three Oakland police officers accused of planting evidence and beating people, Miller was adamant he had been framed on a cool June morning on a West Oakland street.

"I seen one of them reach down and pick up something," Miller said, recalling a June 20, 2000 encounter with officers he accused of arresting him on trumped up drug charges. "I told him it wasn't mine. It was the truth."

Miller was one of several witnesses to take the stand during the first day of testimony in the preliminary hearing of three of four former officers charged collectively with more than 50 felony and misdemeanor counts.

Judge Leo Dorado will decide whether prosecutor David Hollister has enough evidence to put Clarence Mabanag, 35, Matt Hornung, 29, and Jude Siapno, 32, on trial. Francisco Vazquez, 44, who officials have said led the group known as "The Riders," was last seen locally about a week before charges were filed in early November.

Prosecutors and police officials believe the men pummeled and set up black residents of West Oakland during a reign of abuse and misconduct last summer in the predominantly African-American neighborhood. Charges accuse them of beating handcuffed suspects, lying, threatening and, as Miller testified Wednesday, fingering people for crimes they did not commit.

"If I had drugs on me, I wouldn't have just dropped them I would have threw them," he said, trying to contrast his position at the time of his arrest and where an officer found the drugs.

Besides, he told Hornung attorney Edward Fishman during questioning, the only money he had was spent the night before on beer, cigarettes and crack, which he had completely smoked.

He could not identify any of the eight-10 officers at the scene that night.

The day before and about a mile away from Miller's arrest, Kenneth Soriano, 20, met Mabanag and a rookie officer in his front yard after his cousin called police to report that his car had been stolen. The scene quickly turned sour, Soriano testified Wednesday, after a confrontation about his tied-up Rottweiler.

"He was just supposed to be making a police report and he came in and started talking about shooting my dog," Soriano said. "And I didn't feel like I had done anything wrong." Soriano said Mabanag tried to handcuff him then called for backup. Other officers arrived, handcuffed him then punched and kicked him, he said.

Soriano said he was forced to sign a police report, one he accused Mabanag of later adding bogus statements to. Bloodied and beaten, Soriano was treated then booked for public drunkenness, but was never charged.

The hearing is expected to last about three weeks, attorneys said.

"We're happy with how it's moving along at this point," Fishman said outside the courtroom.