Pasadena : Officers Plead Not Guilty

Two men charged with misdemeanor counts of using excessive force while on police patrol in Pasadena recently pleaded not guilty at their arraignment in Pasadena Superior Court.

Christopher Vicino, 25, and James Ballestero, 31, have been accused of beating Stevie Eugene Rivers, 33, during a June, 1986, confrontation in front of an apartment complex in northwest Pasadena. The altercation between the officers and Rivers led to a melee involving onlookers and police in which activist Michael Zinzun and resident Frank Anthony Taylor were also injured.

Vicino was reassigned to desk duty after the incident. Ballestero resigned from the department in December. The two are scheduled to return to court Oct. 1 for a pretrial hearing before Judge Philip Argento.