L. A. Officer Charged in Raid Pleads No Contest : 39th and Dalton: In plea bargain, he agrees to testify at trial of fellow officers. Judge imposes two years’ probation and fine for misdemeanor.

One of four Los Angeles police officers accused of criminal misconduct in the controversial “39th and Dalton” apartment house raid pleaded no contest Friday to a single count of misdemeanor vandalism and agreed to testify at the upcoming trial of his fellow officers.

Officer Charles Wilson, 38, who remains on active police duty, was sentenced by Los Angeles Municipal Judge Larry Fidler to two years’ probation, fined $1,700 and ordered to work 150 hours of community service.

Wilson could have faced a maximum of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. By entering a no-contest plea, two other counts alleging conspiracy and obstruction of a police investigation by hiding and disposing of the battering ram used in the raid were dismissed.

The no-contest plea, in which a defendant admits no guilt, is legally identical to a guilty plea.

Before the Rodney G. King beating this month, the 1988 raid at 39th Street and Dalton Avenue in South Los Angeles had been the Los Angeles Police Department’s most notorious misconduct case. It cost the city more than $3 million in civil court settlements and resulted in disciplinary actions against dozens of officers who wrecked two duplexes--smashing everything inside, including a child’s piggy bank--in a frenzied search for drugs and weapons. No caches were found, however, and, ultimately, only two teen-agers were charged with drug possession.

Prosecutors said Wilson was not involved in planning the search and had caused minimal damage. “He just banged some holes in the wall,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Darden.

“We gave away nothing,” Darden said of the plea, explaining that it will shorten the case and avoid certain legal pitfalls. He said it was not influenced by the King police brutality case.

Co-prosecutor Alan Yochelson said that, under the plea bargain agreement, Wilson will be available as a witness although “whether we call him hasn’t been decided.” Prosecutors said Wilson’s testimony is not crucial to proving their case, but said he could provide the most complete account of the damage in the raid.

Wilson’s attorney, Paul De Pasquale could not be reached for comment Friday.

Jury selection in the trial of three other defendants in the 39th and Dalton case will resume Monday. A defense request to delay the trial for two months to let the King controversy blow over was denied Monday.

The trial of the remaining defendants--Capt. Thomas Elfmont, Sgt. Charles (Ted) Spicer and Officer Todd Parrick--is expected to last about two months. Despite the publicity of the King case, the judge said he believes that close questioning of prospective jurors can select an unbiased panel.

Times staff writer Richard A. Serrano contributed to this story.