OAKLAND – The first three days of trials for two former antioch cops were a roller skating coast, full of drama and emotional testimonies, and culminating with the abrupt end of the trial for one of the accused.
On Wednesday morning, American district judge Jeffrey White declared a trial in the case of Devon Wenger, a former antioche police officer, accused of conspiracy to violate the rights of the citizens of Antioch and a chief linked to excessive force allegedly. The trial will continue for the co-defender of Wenger, Morteza Amiri, who faces accusations of conspiracy and illegal use of his police dog on various people.
The trial means that the accusation against Wenger will occur separately, on a date to be determined. Wenger also faces non -resolved steroid distribution fees, temporarily scheduled for April.
White’s decision followed a long closed procedure, in which everyone, with the exception of lawyers and accused, was locked in the courtroom. But a series of back and forth courts between White and the law firm based in Los Angeles representing Wenger can offer an overview of this premature end.
On several occasions on Tuesday, Wenger’s lawyer Nicole Lopes complained that prosecutors had been slow to hand over evidence and equipment – known as discovery – that she had to effectively defend the case. Lopes also said that she was an operation of a person who defended his client, without the framework of other lawyers and assistants that the federal government and even the co-defender Amiri appreciated.
Tuesday morning, at one point, White admitted that it could be “a slight drawback” without the federal prosecutors moving faster to transmit information to Lopes, noting that the American lawyer’s office has much larger staff.
“You have to advance this,” White told government lawyers.
But later in the day, White seemed to become less patient with repeated remarks of Lopes about being in digital disadvantage. He ordered him to detail – in writing – the equipment not provided by federal prosecutors and to do so at 7 am on Wednesday.
As for the fact that she was the only person to work on Wenger’s case, White simply said: “It’s your problem, not mine.”
“Get some of your partners here and work on it,” said White, while praising Lopes’ defense as “very effective so far”.
But Tuesday afternoon, White followed her remarks with an order of the court to the chief of the firm Lopes Works, commanding the founding partner, Bill Seki, to justify “why Ms. Lopes was not supported”, and to specify how Seki plans to remedy the situation.
Seki responded later in the day saying it was impossible. He said the cabinet had suffered recent quarter -management, had only two lawyers with criminal experience – himself and Lopes – and that he was dealing with a family emergency and unable to attend in person.
White retaliated with a second order, declaring that Seki’s response had been “too vague to fully respond to the concerns of the court”. Seki then replied by declaring that he was putting a parajurist on a plane in Oakland, to arrive on Wednesday at 9:10 am, and that an investigator would also be made available for the Lopes.
But additional staff proved to be unnecessary. At the start of the courtyard on Wednesday, a visibly distraught lopes had a sidebar with whites and prosecutors, followed by White erased the courtroom. After a delay that took most of Wednesday morning, White recalled the jurors in the room and told them that they had finished for the day.
When they left, he asked lawyers to propose an investigation, something that could be read in the jury to explain that Wenger had left but that they are not supposed to guess why. The concern is now that sudden change could assign Amiri’s right to a fair trial.
Amiri and Wenger were among the 14 ex-East Costa Cops accused in August 2023 for a range of alleged crimes, but this affair is by far the most serious. Amiri was sentenced last year for conspiracy with other officers to illegally acquire salary increases to city employees who obtain university degrees, paying the woman of a Pittsburg cop to take college lessons for them.
The indictment against Amiri and Wenger alleges that they conspired with a third officer, Eric Rombough, to injure, oppress and threaten the people of Antioch. Rombough has pleaded guilty and should testify for the government, which has already shown sworn texts between the officers where they joke about the use of violence and make gross remarks on colleagues and orders.
Wenger has long maintained his innocence, arguing that not only did he not committed these crimes but that he will be completely justified at the end. He considers himself a victim of shady practices within the Antioch police service to delete and even retaliate against the police officers who have spoken against the misdeeds of others, in particular the raising of the alarms of the use by Rombough of excessive force, as well as a police lieutenant who had an affair with the Wenger’s fiancère, then illegal, then sought his name by using a confidential police data.
After the court took place on Wednesday, Lopes reiterated that his client was innocent. She stressed that Wenger had resigned in the midst of his unfair treatment claims and challenged the statements of the prosecutors mentioning Wenger, Rombough and Amiri in the same breath, stressing that none of the three ex-cupboards was present during one of the alleged excessive cases.
“They made believe that … they all acted together,” said Lopes.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
