Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Mistrial declared in Gomez case Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 15:00:28 EST Message-ID: Lines: 132 \SE A \HD Mistrial declared in Gomez case \SH Jury locks at 10-2 for conviction \BY Catherine Toups \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Prosecutors dismissed assault charges yesterday against Daniel Enrique Gomez after jurors became hopelessly deadlocked and a judge declared a mistrial in the case that sparked the Mount Pleasant riots. Upon hearing the decision, Mr. Gomez gleefully embraced one of his attorneys and told reporters it was the "happiest day of my life." But Mr. Gomez, 31, and his attorneys appeared to be the only satisfied ones. Outside D.C. Superior Court, some jurors called each other names, activists decried the city's treatment of Hispanics, and police criticized what they called a "cop out" by prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. Seikaly quickly ended speculation that the government might seek a retrial, saying the "evidence has been fully presented in a lengthy trial." The city still faces a $4 million civil lawsuit filed by Mr. Gomez. Mr. Gomez was shot May 5, 1991, by police who said he came at an officer with a knife. Word that he was handcuffed and unarmed spread quickly and touched off three days of looting and rioting in Mount Pleasant and Adams Morgan. He was tried for assault. Police testified that a drunk Mr. Gomez was being arrested for disorderly conduct when he hit an officer, then pulled a folding knife from his back pocket and headed toward Officer Angela Jewell, who shot after she could back up no further. Mr. Gomez's attorney argued that his client was shot by accident by a nervous, inexperienced officer with a gun that is known for accidental discharges and that police on the scene conspired to cover it up. Jurors slogged through four days of deliberations before declaring yesterday morning that they were at an impasse - 10-2 for conviction - on two assault charges against Mr. Gomez. They emerged scowling from D.C. Superior Court and with harsh words for some fellow jurors, saying they had endured a contentious and disenchanting experience. Several who voted to convict Mr. Gomez called one of the holdouts a racist and the other incompetent. Those who agreed to talk to reporters said that they believed the evidence of Mr. Gomez's guilt was overwhelming and that the holdouts completely discounted the testimony of the four black police officers at the scene. "I don't know where they were coming from," said Bernice Williams, a documentation specialist at the Pentagon who voted to convict. "If justice can't be better carried out than this, I never want to serve again." Judy Annis, the only white person on the jury of eight women and four men, was one of the two holdouts. Although the jury initially voted unanimously to convict Mr. Gomez on one count of assault, she changed her mind and refused to budge for the next two days. Trembling and upset, she told reporters that she endured charges of racism and attacks on her integrity. "They were trying to make me something I was not," she said. Ms. Annis, 62, assistant to the chairman of George Washington University's theater and dance department, said she felt "very confident about my logic, my reasoning, my decision." She could not vote to convict because "I didn't have enough information. There was room for doubt." She said she was dismayed by the treatment from fellow jurors. "You can't believe the pressure," she said, adding that the movie "Twelve Angry Men" was an understatement. The hostility in the jury room is reflective of the emotion that has surrounded the case from the outset. In the 18 months since the shooting and during the three weeks of testimony, Hispanic activists increasingly embraced Mr. Gomez as a symbol of their push for civil rights. A press release from the D.C. Latino Civil Rights task force declared that "all Latinos are on trial here," and leaders repeatedly warned that a potential for riots existed if Mr. Gomez were convicted. Task force spokesman Luis Vasquez-Ajmac charged the English-speaking press with misrepresenting his organization's message by alleging that it was trying to incite more violence. "We felt Gomez's racial pain," he said. "It is a show of solidarity to say all Latinos are on trial here." Yesterday, several Hispanic activists stood outside the courthouse and angrily decried the lack of progress Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly has made in ensuring them equal representation. Mr. Gomez, who said he lost 10 pounds from worrying during the trial, smiled when asked about being a symbol and said that the experience has restored his faith in America's criminal justice system. He said he no longer drinks. "I don't drink because the first time I got in trouble," he said. "The second time it could be worse. I don't think it is a good thing in my life." He said he holds no animosity toward police, nor does he fear them. "It doesn't mean they all act like that," he said. U.S. Attorney Jay B. Stephens was not available after the trial ended, but his office issued a terse statement. "While the jury was split 10-2 for conviction, another lengthy trial of this case would do little to further the interests of justice," it stated. Police have said the resolution of the case is troubling. "I have talked to street officers who are subjugated to assaults on a daily or weekly basis and they are outraged by the indecisiveness of the jury," said Andre Lewis, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police's D.C. labor committee. Lt. Lowell Duckett, the president of the D.C. Black Police Caucus and an officer in the district that includes Mount Pleasant, said he will petition Mr. Stephens for a retrial, demanding that he not succumb to political or community pressure. Judge Mildred M. Edwards praised lawyers on both sides and approved of the government's decision to drop the charges. "I think it's time for this community to think about healing, fixing up repairing itself," she told jurors. "Some cases just can't be decided." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM