Protesters Assail Jury Deadlock in Manslaughter Trial of Officer

About 350 protesters circled the Compton Civic Center Thursday to denounce a jury deadlock in the trial of a former Compton police officer charged with manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two Samoan brothers.

The rally, steeped in Samoan custom, was peaceful and Compton police reported no incidents.

Several speakers applauded prosecutors’ plans to seek a retrial of Alfred Skiles on manslaughter charges. But many said they were outraged by the 9-to-3 jury deadlock announced Tuesday in favor of Skiles’ acquittal.

“The mistrial is an insult, an affront to us as a people,” said June Pouesi, regional director of Carson’s nonprofit Office of Samoan Affairs. “This mistrial gives a message to law enforcement all over the world, wherever Samoans live, that it is OK to shoot and kill Samoans when approached.”

Skiles has said he acted in self-defense when he killed Pouvi Tualaulelei, 34, and his 22-year-old brother, Itali Tualaulelei, members of the royal family of Western Samoa. Skiles shot the brothers a total of 19 times, reloading his gun once.

Thursday’s rally was organized by Samoan chiefs, church and community leaders. Many in the crowd dressed in traditional Pacific Islander attire, with brightly colored wraparound skirts called lava lavas and necklaces made of seeds and seashells. They marched in front of Compton City Hall while singing Samoan songs and spiritual hymns.

“Of course, we usually wear our pants and ties here in the United States,” said John Taeleifi, 36, a Long Beach businessman. “But out of respect for our culture, today we wore the traditional garb of the island.”

Pouvi was a former police officer in Western Samoa, according to a family attorney, and Itali was a football player on scholarship at El Camino College.

Skiles has been ordered to return to court June 1 to learn whether Superior Court Judge John Reid will set a new trial date or dismiss the case. The 12-year police veteran recently retired, contending the stress from the February, 1991, shootings and the trial left him unable to work.