From [HERE] Federal prosecutors say they plan to retry a white Fresno police sergeant and three former white officers on brutality and obstruction of justice charges in the brutal beating case of Rolando Celdon. While on the ground he was punched, kicked, bit by a police dog, shot with a stun gun and blasted several times with a bean-bag shotgun in October 2005. Celdon was shot in the testicles by the white cops at close range. He was unarmed. He did not testify as he was deported as a result of the underlying criminal case.
A federal jury was pronounced hung in the case last month. The jury was mostly white - as it appeared to have only one non-white person on it. [MORE] In the video below a white juror complains that a new trial is an unnecessary use of taxpayer dollars. To the contrary, white supremacy is a colossal waste of money, resources & life.
Prosecutors say Officers Manfredi and Plymale concealed the excessive force used on Rolando Celdon by Officers Coleman and Van Dalen. All four officers were also charged with falsifying a report.
Both sides agreed that during the early hours of Oct. 10, 2005, Celdon broke into his girlfriend's southeast Fresno apartment, threatened her life and hit her in front of her young son. Celdon left before police arrived. A short time later, Plymale and his police dog, Tymo, confronted Celdon a few blocks from the girlfriend's home.
Hardin testified he rolled up to the scene shortly after 2 a.m. and saw Plymale standing on the opposite side of a 6-foot fence topped with barbed wire checking Tymo for injuries -- 5 to 10 feet from Celdon who was lying in the dirt in pain from being bitten.
Hardin said he didn't know at the time that Tymo had clamped onto Celdon's ankle and that Celdon had taken the 70-pound dog over the fence. Hardin said he noticed Coleman holding a shotgun that fires beanbags filled with pellets. He said he saw three or four spent shell casings on the ground and Van Overbeek standing next to Coleman.
Then Van Dalen arrived and he quickly jumped over the fence, Hardin testified.
"Do you need any help?" Hardin asked. But Van Dalen didn't respond, he said.
Per department policy, Hardin, a rookie at the time, said he pulled out his gun in case Celdon became combative. He said Burger arrived and did the same thing.
Hardin testified he quickly realized that Celdon had nothing in his hands and he was not fighting. "He was kind of crying and he had a scared look on him," he told jurors. "There was no threat."
Hardin also told the jury that he believed Celdon could be easily handcuffed. Instead, Coleman shot Celdon and Van Dalen kicked him, he testified.
Hardin said Manfredi arrived and got upset when Coleman fired a final round at Celdon. He wasn't upset with Celdon's alleged mistreatment, Hardin said. The sergeant was mad that the shotgun blast hurt his ears, Hardin said.
Seeing no threat, Hardin said he put his gun away. So did Burger, he said.
Like Van Overbeek, Hardin told the jury that Coleman and Van Dalen joked about shooting Celdon in the testicles, but Coleman declined to do it. Hardin also said Celdon complied with orders from a Spanish-speaking officer.
After the incident, Hardin said he told Burger: "That was crazy."
A federal indictment accused Fresno police Sgt. Michael Manfredi and Plymale of concealing the alleged assault on Celdon by former officers Coleman and Paul Van Dalen. All four were charged with falsifying an official report to obstruct justice. If convicted, each could have faced up to 20 years in prison.
Police were searching for Celdon because he had broken into his girlfriend's southeast Fresno apartment and assaulted her in front of her child. Celdon was was later deported after being convicted of stalking and striking her. He was unavailable for the trial.
Because he couldn't be found in Mexico, the prosecution's case was built on the testimony of Fresno police officers Martin Van Overbeek, Tom Hardin Jr. and Beau Burger. They testified that Celdon posed no threat when Coleman fired six or seven bean-bag rounds at him and Van Dalen kicked him in the side at least twice. They also said they never saw a weapon near Celdon when he was taken into custody.