San Francisco Police Chief Earl Sanders, indicted along with nine other cops by a California grand jury this past Thursday, is fighting back big time through his lawyer, Phil Ryan. Ryan is threatening to seek DA Terrence Hallinan's removal from the case. He's asked for, and already received, assurances from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer that Lockyer's office will review the case to see if Hallinan abused his discretion in bringing the case to the grand jury. Sanders asked for the review in a letter to Lockyer in which he

accused District Attorney Terence Hallinan of making "public and false charges of felonious conduct by my command staff." Sanders also accused Hallinan of illegally releasing police investigatory material and making "unethical and false public comments" about the police command staff, [and charged] "Hallinan's abuse of the Grand Jury (sic) threatens to destroy the department's chain of command, compromise long-standing and proven criminal investigative procedures and practices thereby fatally undermining police credibility."

Defense attorney Ryan isn't mincing words with the press.

"We would like the attorney general to take this case over because of the ethics of the district attorney," Ryan said. "We also think the San Francisco Police Department's ability to keep out streets safe and our prisons filled with bad people will be destroyed unless the state intervenes." But Ryan said there are disadvantages of having [Hallinan] taken off the case. "From a strategic point of view, I'd rather have District Attorney Hallinan because I'll kick his (expletive)." (emphasis supplied).

The Indictment charges Sanders and six other ranking officers, with conspiracy to obstruct justice in the investigation of an alleged beating by three off-duty officers, one of whom is the son of the assistant chief of police, Alex Fagan. The off-duty officers are charged with assault.

If we understand the alleged facts correctly, one night after the bars closed, a bartender who had just gotten off work and his friend were walking down the street when the three off-duty police officers tried to steal some steak fajitas being carried by the bartender. The three cops gave the two men a gratuitous beating, which Alex, Jr.'s father (the assistant chief,) Chief Sanders and other command officers then tried to cover up.

The first big fight is before the Police Commimssion, which has to decide whether Chief Sanders can keep his job during the pendency of the case or should be suspended. Mayor Willie Brown has asked that Sanders be allowed to stay. Others believe Sanders should go.

Hallinan's move is unprecedented in modern times. The last time a DA indicted the command structure of a police department was 100 years ago. So is Hallinan out for publicity, off his rocker or settling an old score? Or is he a fearless and principled prosecutor who refuses to accept criminal behavior from cops on the force?

Hallinan has been at odds with the San Francisco P.D. for decades--mostly over his liberal leanings.

Hallinan has always conceded that his liberal leanings have put him at odds with the prevailing culture of law enforcement. It started, he has said, with his father, attorney Vincent Hallinan, who got on the department's bad side by successfully defending a long list of leftist leaders arrested in the 1940s and '50s. "The cops didn't like the Hallinans," he said during his 1999 re-election campaign. "We were radicals. We challenged the system.

"A lot of police officers have never warmed up to me because we don't come from the same background," he added. "I'm an activist. I have experienced the negative side of law enforcement. I don't automatically assume the police are always right."

The police see it differently. Hallinan, they say, just doesn't like cops.....[and] is soft on small-time drug dealers and users. They also complain that Hallinan prefers to prosecute cases that advance his political agenda, such domestic violence, and is more interested in reforming criminals than putting them behind bars.

Let's add one more fact into the equation: The Assistant Chief's son, Alex Fagan, Jr., (one of those charged with the beating) has a history of using force on duty.

Rookie police Officer Alex Fagan Jr., son of San Francisco's No. 2 cop, used force in at least 16 violent encounters with suspects in a 13-month period, sending six of them to the hospital, The Chronicle has learned.

Arrest reports, court filings, hospital records and interviews of suspects, their attorneys and witnesses portray a problem-prone cop who had given many warning signs that he was quick to acts of anger and violence.

One man told police that Fagan Jr. kicked him in the head. Another was hospitalized with broken ribs and a punctured lung after encountering Fagan. A woman said that while she was handcuffed he dropped her face-first on the pavement.

We're siding with Hallinan right now. Both Fagans need to get off the force and stay off unless they are cleared of criminal wrongdoing. The San Francisco Chronicle said in this editorial a few weeks ago,

...The search for the truth has been slowed by evasion and stalling. Officers have been uncooperative, key evidence at the scene went uncollected, and crucial records and reports have been delayed or withheld. The chief inspector was pulled off the case after seeking internal data and asking uncomfortable questions....This disturbing scenario mocks the notion of police self-discipline and erodes public goodwill.

We smell the "blue wall of silence" among the police command--shades of the Abner Louima case. This case is ugly and is going to get uglier. Stay tuned.

[full coverage of the San Francisco Police Investigation and Indictments can be found here. Unusual bio of Terrence Hallinan is here.]