Features

OAKLAND — Attorneys for three former Oakland police officers accused of criminal misconduct said Friday they will seek to have their clients tried outside of Alameda County. 

Michael Rains, attorney for Clarence Mabanag, said pretrial publicity in the so-called “Riders” case would make it hard to seat a panel of unbiased jurors. 

A trial date for the former police officers, Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung, has not yet been set. A fourth officer, Frank Vazquez, fled soon after the investigation began. 

The officers were fired by the Oakland Police Department after they were accused of beating suspects and falsifying police reports during a two-week period in June of 2000. 

About 25 activists from the community group PUEBLO, People United for a Better Oakland, held a rally outside of the Oakland courthouse and urged a more comprehensive investigation. 

PUEBLO claims that misconduct runs rampant within the Oakland Police Department and that the investigation should not be restricted to the four defendants charged. 

SAN FRANCISCO — The Exploratorium here hosted more than a dozen of the brightest minds in the world Friday as it marked the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. 

Four Nobel laureates took time to discuss the impact of the Nobel Prize. Chemist Paul Berg and economist Milton Friedman were among those who described how they earned their awards and how the prize changed their lives. 

The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award in science, and California’s universities and research facilities lay claim to more Nobel laureates than any other place in the world. 

On Saturday, the Exploratorium hosts a live event called “Stump the Scientist,” where Nobel Prize winners will try to explain some of the curious Exploratorium exhibits for members of the public in attendance.