JURY DEADLOCKS ON MAN ACCUSED OF TELLING FATAL LIE; PROSECUTOR CLAIMS OFFICER SENT TO DEATH.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Daily News Staff Writer

The jury in the case of a man accused of leading Glendale police into a fatal ambush could not reach a verdict, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial Monday.

Jurors deadlocked 8-4 in favor of convicting Ronald Davey, 51, of involuntary manslaughter in the May 28, 1997, death of Glendale investigator Charles Lazzaretto, said Deputy District Attorney Larry Morrison.

Outside the courtroom, Morrison said he was extremely disappointed and will retry Davey in April.

``We felt we presented sufficient evidence to convict him. Unfortunately, the jurors didn't agree,'' he said.

Davey was accused of lying to police about the whereabouts of attempted-murder suspect Israel Gonzalez.

Prosecutors said that investigators Lazzaretto and Art Frank questioned Davey at Elegant Angel Video on May 27, 1997, and he told them he had not seen Gonzalez.

Minutes later, as the officers strolled through the spacious pornography warehouse in Chatsworth, Gonzalez fatally wounded Lazzaretto with a bullet to the back of the neck. Gonzalez also shot at Frank and wounded two Los Angeles Police Department officers trying to rescue Lazzaretto.

In the gunbattle, nine LAPD officers fired shotguns and handguns at Gonzalez, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, police said.

Defense attorney Matthew Vallance said Monday he was surprised the jury didn't acquit Davey. Although it is an emotional case involving a slain police officer, his client is innocent of both charges, involuntary manslaughter and being an accessory, Vallance said. Jurors voted 8-4 to acquit on the accessory charge.

``The prosecutor presented the best case he could. But I don't think if we retry him we'll get 12 people to find Davey committed a crime,'' Vallance said.

Jurors listened to and read a transcript of a tape-recorded interview of Davey by LAPD detectives hours after the shooting. Before any testimony in the trial, Vallance made a successful motion to prevent the jury from hearing part of the interview.

The jury heard Davey say on the tape that, although he had spoken to Gonzalez 10 minutes before the Glendale investigators arrived, he told them he hadn't seen Gonzalez all night. Jurors, however, didn't hear Davey say, ``I was protecting him.''

That part of the tape was suppressed because Davey was recorded after he told police he wanted to talk with his attorney. Davey continued to do enough talking to fill 24 pages of transcript.

Neither attorney commented on the suppressed portion of the transcript.

Several jurors who voted to convict Davey later said they believe the suppressed information would have swayed those who believed Davey was innocent.

``It came down to a `he said, he said' kind of thing, and they believed Davey over Officer Frank,'' juror Ed Themann said of the four jurors who voted to acquit.

``They thought Davey was just doing his job. We believe that is absolutely incorrect,'' he said to nods of four other jurors who apologized to Lazzaretto's widow, Annamaria, after the mistrial.

Frank testified in the trial that he and Lazzaretto told Davey they were at the warehouse looking for Gonzalez in connection with a serious felony assault on Gonzalez' girlfriend, Mischell Bowen.

During an interview by LAPD detectives after the shooting, Frank said he did not tell Davey why investigators were looking for Gonzalez.

Aside from challenging Frank's credibility, the defense attorney questioned officers' safety precautions.

Lt. Jon Perkins steadfastly denied his officers were careless. If they had had an inkling that Gonzalez was in the building, they would have worn bulletproof vests and armed themselves with high-powered weapons, he said.

Perkins, a close friend with whom Lazzaretto ate dinner hours before the shooting, said he is not giving up hope that Davey will be punished.

``There's no reason to quit. Somebody's got to stand up for Chuck,'' he said.