Officer Sentenced to Community Service for Battery : Courts: The police veteran will work 350 hours as a result of his treatment of a Canoga Park jaywalker.

In a case characterized as a referendum on the judicial system’s treatment of wayward police officers, a Los Angeles policeman convicted of battery for slapping, kicking and dragging a handcuffed jaywalker in Canoga Park was sentenced Wednesday to 350 hours of community service.

Officer Clark W. Baker, a 12-year department veteran and ex-Marine who was described Wednesday in court by his superiors as a “sensitive, caring” officer, was also ordered not to carry a gun on the job.

Baker, found innocent of wrongdoing last year by an internal police review board, was convicted earlier this month by a Los Angeles Municipal Court jury of a sole count of battery. The jury deadlocked 10 to 2 for conviction on a second count alleging that Baker used excessive force in citing a 21-year-old El Salvadoran immigrant for jaywalking July 19, 1991.

Citing the discrepancy between the jury’s verdict of guilt and the Police Department Board of Rights’ finding of innocence, Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth said Wednesday in sentencing Baker that she “had no confidence the LAPD, if allowed to handle this internally, would take steps to make sure this does not happen again.”

The judge ordered Baker, 35, of Simi Valley to perform his community service work at El Rescate, the Pico-Union district community service agency that works with Central American immigrants.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Sotelo, the prosecutor in the case, said the conviction should send a “strong message.”

“This shows that jurors in this county, no matter what their background or how pro-police they can be, can deliver a fair verdict and find a police officer responsible for his conduct,” Sotelo said.

Baker’s defense attorney, Glendale lawyer Bob Wilson, said the verdict proved precisely the opposite point. “I just don’t think at this present time it’s possible for a police officer to get a fair trial, given the current climate in the city of Los Angeles,” Wilson said.

Baker, who could have drawn up to a year in jail for the conviction, declined to comment Wednesday.

The incident took place near the intersection of Roscoe and Topanga Canyon boulevards when Baker, assigned to the Valley Traffic Division, stopped Chavez, who speaks little English and who was walking home.

Baker wrote Chavez a ticket for jaywalking and got angry when Chavez asked to read it, Sotelo said.

The officer, who speaks Spanish, told Chavez, “Hurry up and sign it or I’ll arrest you and call immigration,” according to trial testimony.

A crowd gathered, and Baker testified that he feared Chavez would flee. Baker slapped Chavez’s hand as Chavez tried to put a piece of chewing gum in his mouth. Then, the officer twisted Chavez’s arm behind him, kicked him three times in the abdomen and threw him on the ground, according to trial testimony.

After handcuffing Chavez, Baker dragged him by his ponytail and by the cuffs for about 10 feet, Sotelo said.

Last year, after department officials had reviewed the incident, Baker had agreed to undergo “anger counseling.”

But when the internal police review board found him innocent of wrongdoing, he decided to go to trial instead of completing counseling, defense lawyer Wilson said.

The jury verdict was returned Feb. 4. At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Baker’s superiors said they planned to keep him in a productive job--even without a gun in his holster.

“He’s a very sensitive, caring officer,” Sgt. Albert Zardeneta said. “The verdict does not change my mind at all.”

“I found him to be very productive, articulate . . . a very good officer,” Lt. John Mitchell said. “I’d put him in the top 10 in the division.”

Capt. John Mutz called Baker “one of the best officers we have.” He said Baker would be assigned to administrative duty.

The judge said Wednesday she would rethink the order that Baker not be allowed to carry a gun if he completes his community service and takes an “impulse control” therapy program.