Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 12/11/1995 All articles from this issue

Excessive force case involving officer will go to trial

printer friendly version

By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The case of A Mountain View man charged with assaulting a Los Altos police officer during a routine traffic stop, who then accused the officer of using excessive force, will go to trial, attorneys said after a pre-trial conference in court Thursday.

The case will be transferred to San Jose from Palo Alto because the trial, with more than 12 witnesses, is expected to take longer than a week.

"It looks like an impasse," said Nicholas Rossi, attorney for Hugo Hauser who faces three misdemeanor charges of battery, resisting arrest and obstructing an officer.

"The sides were unable to settle," Rossi said. "It takes two sides to agree. The district attorney and Mr. Hauser did not agree on what the settlement would be."

Assistant district attorney Robert McCauley, who is prosecuting the case, said he intends to try the case.

"I don't think there will be a settlement unless Mr. Hauser changes his position," McCauley said.

Hauser, 66, was stopped July 22 by Los Altos police for traveling 55 mph in a 35-mph zone. Hauser spit at the officer and slapped him, according to police reports.

"He hit me first, I just spit at him," witnesses heard Hauser say.

The officer used pepper spray and his baton to subdue Hauser, said Los Altos Police Capt. Jerry Little.

Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton ordered an internal investigation. No results have been released.

Judge Gilbert Brown, after reviewing the officer's personnel records, announced at a Nov. 13 hearing that there was no history of excessive force or any complaints against the officer.

"Emotions are high on both sides in this case," said Robert Booth, city attorney for Los Altos.

"The police feel very strongly that they reacted properly. To my knowledge there are no witnesses who have said the officer acted improperly."

The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is one year in jail, Booth said. "No one wants a criminal record if they can avoid it," he said.

Attorneys said the judge will probably set a trial date at another pre-trial conference, set for Dec. 20.

"This is a tough county on crime," Booth said. "This is not a 'shuffle them up, and deal them out' system."