OAKLAND -- A jury on Thursday acquitted three former police officers of several counts against them, while deadlocking on others, including assault, kidnapping and conspiracy stemming from their time working the night shift during the summer of 2000.

Video

Video On Demand: Rita Williams On Oakland Riders Verdicts

Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, 39, Matthew Hornung, 33, and Jude Siapno, 36, were accused of committing more than a dozen felonies during a two-week period in West Oakland.

Mabanag was found not guilty on one count of making false statements on police reports. The jury deadlocked on three other false statement counts and a charge of filing a false police report.

Hornung was found not guilty of the only two counts filed against him -- making a false statement in a police report and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The jury of seven women and five men deadlocked on all counts against Siapno, who faced the most serious charges, many stemming from an allegation that he and fellow officer Frank Vazquez beat a handcuffed man under a freeway overpass. Vazquez fled to Mexico and is considered a fugitive.

Siapno was charged with three counts of assault under the color of authority and one count each of kidnapping, assault, false imprisonment and making a false statement in a police report.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said outside court he hadn't yet decided whether he would refile charges against the former Oakland officers.

Defense attorneys, who remain bound by a gag order, left the courtroom smiling and patting their clients on the backs.

The investigation into the "Riders," as they called themselves, began in July 2000, when a rookie officer, Keith Batt, quit the force and reported the alleged misconduct. Batt now works as a Pleasanton police officer.

One juror, Shequoyah Kirtman, 26, of Oakland, said she wouldn't necessarily be concerned about the defendants being back on the streets as police officers.

"I think the verdicts were fair," she said. "They are probably good cops ... Some things were done right and just ended up wrong."

During the trial, prosecutors portrayed the men as rogue officers who beat and framed suspects regularly. Defense lawyers countered that the officers were falsely accused by Batt, who couldn't handle working on the tough streets of West Oakland.

A first trial lasted more than a year. It ended in September 2003, after 56 days of deliberations, when a jury acquitted the three former officers on eight counts and deadlocked on the remaining 27. Opening statements in the retrial began Nov. 1.