Convicted Burglar Granted a New Trial : Law: Jitu Sadiki’s claims of innocence triggered a communitywide movement in his defense.

Jitu Sadiki, a convicted burglar whose assertions of innocence spawned a communitywide movement in his defense, won a victory Tuesday when a Santa Monica Superior Court judge granted him a new trial.

A courtroom packed with dozens of Sadiki’s supporters, including football great Jim Brown and activist Don Jackson, erupted in cheers and applause when Judge David Perez granted the new proceeding based on the argument that Sadiki’s trial lawyer had been ineffective.

“I did feel the people (prosecution) presented a strong case,” said Perez, who presided over the two-week jury trial last year. However, Sadiki “is entitled to present the best possible defense . . . and I don’t think that was shown in this case.”

Pretrial motions in the case are scheduled for April 24.

Sadiki, 34, who says he is innocent of charges that he broke into a Culver City beauty shop and attempted to break into a pawnshop next door, has contended that his arrest and subsequent conviction were racially motivated.

He added outside the courtroom Tuesday that the judge’s decision did not change his mind about the criminal justice system, which he feels unfairly targets black men, but it did affirm what can happen when segments of a community band together.

“I don’t know if it says anything about the system,” said Sadiki, who is free on bail. “What it says is what the power of the people can do.”

Sadiki became the focal point of a grass-roots campaign that brought together neighborhood activists and Hollywood celebrities shortly after he was convicted Nov. 6 on one count each of burglary and attempted burglary. Petition drives launched on Sadiki’s behalf have garnered hundreds of signatures and community fund-raisers have brought in nearly $15,000 for his defense, according to supporters.

Commenting on Perez’s decision, Sadiki’s previous attorney, Nancy Phillips, said, “If by making me a scapegoat justice can be done, then fine, I’ll be the scapegoat. Blame it on me and give the man an opportunity to have a new trial.”

His new attorney, Robert N. Harris, commended the judge’s decision, but called the move unusual. “He did what is just . . . and I think this time we’ll prepare for it, and I think this time we’ll win.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd L. Melnik, who prosecuted Sadiki, said he believes otherwise.

“The evidence is strong, and I’m confident the results will be the same,” said Melnik, adding that he was “a little shocked” by the judge’s decision but did not disagree with its premise.

Melnik, who has called “ridiculous” Sadiki’s allegations that his arrest and conviction were racially motivated, added that members of the public who have rallied behind Sadiki do not know the facts of his case. “After a two-week jury trial, the jury in 3 1/2 hours returned a verdict of guilty,” he said. “That says something for the overwhelming evidence.”

Melnik cited the positive identification of Sadiki by a police officer, Sadiki’s own testimony at the trial, and the projection of a bullet fired by an officer during the incident as key factors leading to Sadiki’s conviction.

“The laws of physics don’t lie,” Melnik said.

But Sadiki says important evidence that could have exonerated him--including a pair of shoes, taken from him the night of his arrest to be matched with a footprint from the crime scene--was lost before the trial began. The jury, he said, “was misled by the district attorney and the evidence that was put before them.”

Melnik did acknowledge in an earlier interview that the shoes were discarded by mistake when a police officer “apparently heard that Sadiki was going to plead (guilty) and signed a ‘destroy evidence’ form.”

However, “they did not really contribute or not contribute to his conviction,” Melnik said.

Geri Silva, a member of Sadiki’s defense committee, said the campaign on Sadiki’s behalf will continue, with more fund-raisers being planned. In addition, the campaign will be broadened to include the monitoring of police activity in certain communities.

“I don’t think anybody is just supporting Jitu, we’re all supporting justice,” said Silva, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Equal Rights Congress, a civil rights organization. “It’s no time to rest.”