One Charge Dropped in Attack on Migrant : Courts: Two Carlsbad men accused of beating and handcuffing a migrant will stand trial, but won’t face a civil rights violation charge.

A Vista municipal judge Tuesday ordered two Carlsbad men to stand trial on a felony charge of false imprisonment by violence in connection with the alleged January beating and handcuffing of a migrant worker--but said the man’s civil rights were not violated.

In dismissing the misdemeanor civil rights allegation, Judge Michael Burley said he found no evidence to suggest that the attack on Candido Gayosso Salas, 26, was racially motivated. Burley recommended that prosecutors instead file a misdemeanor battery charge against two workers of the Country Store, a rural market on El Camino Real.

Meanwhile, the FBI said Tuesday that it would continue to monitor the case and forward results to the Justice Department in Washington for possible action against the defendants.

The judge’s decision came at the close of a two-day preliminary hearing against Randy Ryberg, a store baker, and William Zimmerman, who operates Truman’s Meats inside the market.

Deputy Dist. Atty. George McFetridge said he was disappointed by the judge’s ruling to drop the civil rights charges. He said that a bag placed on the migrant worker’s head which contained a Spanish phrase and a clown face was a clear indication that the attack was racially motivated.

“My argument was that the bag, the things that were drawn on it, showed the racial motivations,” McFetridge said after the hearing. “It’s like putting a bag with a swastika over a Jewish person’s head. The intent is pretty clear.”

The case revolves around a Jan. 3 incident in which Gayosso was allegedly grabbed by Ryberg as he waited for work outside the market. The burly Ryberg, who stands 6-foot-6, dragged the diminutive worker around the corner of the store, according to court testimony.

He was then joined by Zimmerman, who forced Gayosso to lie face down on the pavement and then placed his foot on the worker’s back, Gayosso testified in court.

Gayosso, who speaks no English, was then handcuffed to a stair railing behind the store for more than two hours. He was released only after the two men allegedly tied his legs and arms with duct tape and placed the bag over his head.

Authorities have called the attack a ploy to scare scores of migrants away from the market where they congregate daily to solicit work.

The bag, which prosecutors believed was key evidence in the case, contained the Spanish phrase “No Mas Aqui,” which means “No more here.” The bag also bore a hole through which the worker could see and a jack-o-lantern face with crossed eyes and a toothy grin.

McFetridge said he planned to discuss the judge’s advice with his supervisors before deciding whether to file misdemeanor battery charges against the two men or refile the civil rights charge.

Ryberg and Zimmerman have been ordered to appear March 20 for arraignment in Vista Superior Court when they will learn what charges the district attorney’s office plans to file.

“The preliminary hearing is a test run of the trial,” McFetridge said. “If you can’t convince a judge, then you probably couldn’t convince 12 people in a jury box either.”

Robert L. James, an attorney representing William Zimmerman in the case, said he was relieved at Tuesday’s development. “I’m just glad the judge dropped it, but I was prepared to try the charge,” he said.

“You have to understand that in a preliminary hearing the standard of evidence a judge uses is extremely low. All he has to have is a strong suspicion. And the judge said he didn’t even have that.”

Ron Orrantia, an FBI spokesman in San Diego, said Tuesday that the judge’s decision will not affect their interest in the case.

“We are continuing to monitor the prosecution phase of this thing to forward the results to the Justice Department,” he said. “The question one has to ask is, ‘Is this all interrelated?’ ”