Former Rohnert Park sergeant to testify in civil rights lawsuit against him and fellow officers

The opening day of a federal civil rights trial against three Rohnert Park police officers accused of conducting an illegal, warrantless search of a family's house started with questions about whether one of the officers was refusing to testify.

Former Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum was one of a trio of officers who went to a Santa Barbara Drive house in 2014 looking for a man named Edgar Perez, who was on probation for a felony drug possession conviction. While two of the officers spoke to Perez' parents, Elva and Raul Barajas, through a front security door, Tatum went around to the backyard and - with his gun drawn - slipped inside the home through an unlocked door, according to opening statements Tuesday by both sides. Perez, then 35, wasn't home.

Tatum's entry into the house is “the main reason why we are here,” said Elva and Raul Barajas' attorney, Arturo Gonzalez, during his opening statements to a jury Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

“He (Tatum) is not here today but I understand he may come tomorrow and I hope he does because I have a lot of questions,” Gonzalez said.

Whether Tatum will take the stand remained unclear even after U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim dismissed the jury for the evening. In open court, she asked the city of Rohnert Park's lawyer whether Tatum would testify.

“I've done the best I can,” Scott Lewis said, leaving the question unresolved.

Tuesday evening, a private attorney hired by Tatum said the discussion was a misunderstanding and his client intended to be present, noting he is no longer a Rohnert Park employee and therefore not required to attend the opening day of trial.

“He's going to testify to the truth of what happened in this case,” Santa Rosa-based attorney Stuart Hanlon said. “He stands by what he did.”

The Barajas' case is unrelated to Tatum's departure from the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department.

Tatum stepped down in June amid public scrutiny over his role in traffic stops on Highway 101 that resulted in Rohnert Park seizing millions of dollars of cash and marijuana from motorists. The city is conducting an internal investigation into Tatum and another officer related to a single December 2017 traffic stop. Court records show he remained under investigation earlier this month.

Rohnert Park's longtime director of public safety, Brian Masterson, retired this summer amid controversy over the highway seizures that continues to shadow the dual police and firefighting agency.

The city contends that Tatum and the other officers involved in the Nov. 4, 2014 search at the Barajas' home acted lawfully.

Lewis told the jury the officers, including current employee Matthew Snodgrass and Dave Rodriguez, who has since retired, were conducting a routine probation search within the bounds of the court-ordered conditions of Perez' release.

They were at the property for about 18 minutes, including only about 5 minutes when they were inside looking for Perez, according to Lewis. Tatum holstered his weapon as soon as he got inside and saw the Barajas' daughter, Lewis said. None of the family members noticed him when his gun was drawn, he said.

“The Barajas were never told they had to stand someplace, that they had to do something,” Lewis told the jury. “They were never criticized, never handcuffed, never beaten. When I asked Elva Barajas, ‘Were the officers professional?' she said, ‘Yeah.'”

But Elva and Raul Barajas, who filed the federal lawsuit in 2015, contend the search represented a pattern of harassment against Perez, who in 2010 was beaten and shot with a Taser during an encounter with Tatum and Rodriguez. The suit names all three of the officers involved in the search as well as the city of Rohnert Park. It seeks undisclosed damages.

Gonzalez, the Barajas' attorney, argued that the couple told the officers at their front door they wouldn't let them in without a warrant. They consented only when they saw Tatum was already inside, he said.

“This is a case about the sanctity of a home: When can the government enter your home?” said Gonzalez, a San Francisco-based trial attorney. “If your child is on probation does that mean you as the parent don't have right to privacy in your own home?”

Raul Barajas has worked as a garbage hauler for 45 years with the same company, now called Recology. He and his wife have lived in the same Santa Barbara Drive home for 27 years. They are immigrants from Mexico and speak little English, according to their lawyer.

Edgar Perez, now 39, is their eldest son, and has struggled for years with a drug addiction and was rarely at home.

In court Tuesday, Elva Barajas was briefly overcome with emotion as her lawyer described Tatum entering their home.

“Entering back door of someone's house is a big deal, and you should not do that under just any circumstances,” Gonzalez said.

The trial continues Wednesday. Several police officers and members of the Barajas family are expected to testify.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.