Judge Says Latino Arrests in Rape Case Justified : Courts: Critics called the incident a gross example of racial abuse, but the court says deputies acted with reasonable cause after a Poway girl’s allegations.

A federal judge has dismissed allegations that San Diego County sheriff’s deputies violated the rights of Latino suspects who were arrested more than three years ago in connection with the reported rape of a 15-year-old Poway girl.

Judge Roger Curtis McKee rejected claims that the deputies committed a “gross violation of civil rights” after the rape was reported in April, 1988.

All criminal charges were eventually dropped, and attorneys for the former suspects charged that there was no evidence a rape had ever occurred. Activists contended that the suspects were victims of racially charged law enforcement “hysteria”--an allegation dismissed by the Sheriff’s Department.

Critics viewed the case--which included the roundup of more than 80 Latino “suspects” in the Poway area--as one of the more flagrant examples of racial abuse in the recent annals of San Diego County. Most in custody were released within hours, but authorities held six suspects--five men and one woman--for up to two months.

Sheriff’s officials had defended their actions as appropriate in view of the reported nature of the crime.

The girl claimed she was attacked by a group of Latinos on the evening of April 24, 1988, while she was riding her horse along a dirt track in the Poway area. She said they dragged her from her horse, pinned her down and held her as one man raped her.

The judge, in a ruling this week, stated that the deputies had reasonable cause to make the arrests. Among other things, the judge noted that medical evidence indicated that a rape may have occurred.

All criminal charges in the case were dropped after it was disclosed in court that the girl was pregnant and that the alleged rapist had agreed to give a blood sample to determine if he was the father. Authorities declined to elaborate further on their reasons for dismissing charges.

Sheriff Jim Roache said he is gratified with the court’s decision.

“I’m pleased that the judge ruled that our officers acted in a legal and prudent manner,” said Roache, who was a sheriff’s captain at the time of the incident.

But Roberto Martinez, a longtime civil rights activist, said the ruling continues an “outrageous” miscarriage of justice.

“This whole thing was racist in nature,” Martinez said. “This was selective and discriminatory enforcement. These kids were denied due process.”

The six suspects, all citizens of Mexico, were 17 to 23 years old at the time of the incident.

They each sought at least $1 million in damages from the county, in civil suits filed in U.S. District Court one year after the alleged rape. Many had returned by then to Poway, where they worked in agriculture and at other day jobs.

The dragnet came at a time when tensions were increasing throughout North County between homeowners, generally non-Latino and middle-class, and the mostly Mexican migrant workers who often live in crude dwellings amid the brush.

Rights activists charged that the intense law enforcement reaction stemmed from the fact that the girl was the daughter of a longtime San Diego police officer and his wife, a sheriff’s deputy. Authorities denied that her parentage affected their actions.

Still pending in the case is a civil lawsuit filed against the girl by the six, authorities said.

Five of the six charged in the alleged crime acknowledged that they had seen the woman that evening. But they maintained that they exchanged a few words with her and went their separate ways.