Man Wounded by Police Not Guilty of Assault

A Tujunga man who was shot at least seven times by police during a drug raid that yielded .002 of a gram of methamphetamine was found not guilty of assault with a firearm on a police officer by a San Fernando Superior Court jury Wednesday.

John Gersboll, 40, buried his face in his hands as the clerk read the verdict.

“There are no words to express what I feel,” he said, leaning on a cane that he uses as a result of his injuries. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

The jury also found Gersboll’s wife, Samantha, 45, not guilty of possession of a silencer, but was unable to reach a verdict on the same charge against John Gersboll.

“The whole thing has been ridiculous,” Samantha Gersboll said. “It should never have been tried.”

The charges against the couple stemmed from a raid of their house in the 9900 block of Tujunga Canyon Boulevard on Jan. 23, 1990. Narcotics officers who went to the house shortly before 11 p.m. knocked loudly and identified themselves as police officers, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Sidney Trapp.

After hearing scuffling inside and footsteps running away from the door, the officers broke the door open with a hand-held battering ram.

Officers Larry Voelker, 43, and David Nila, 42, shot Gersboll when he continued advancing toward them with a .44 magnum after being ordered to drop the weapon, Trapp said.

A small amount of methamphetamine was found in Gersboll’s wallet and a trace amount on scales inside in the house, Trapp said.

During the trial, Trapp theorized that Gersboll pointed the gun at officers to stall them while others flushed the drugs down the toilet.

But defense attorneys called the shooting a “vicious, callous act,” and said the Gersbolls were the victims of police brutality and a cover-up.

“They lied,” attorney Malcolm Guleserian said. “My client was shot eight times, they trashed the house looking for any smidgen of evidence and they found nothing.”

Police officers didn’t identify themselves and the couple was terrified to hear someone pounding on their door so late at night, Guleserian said.

John Gersboll armed himself thinking it may have been robbers, Guleserian said, but he dropped the weapon when he realized the people outside his door were officers.

John Gersboll was standing in a “passive position” when he was shot by police, Guleserian said. All but one of the bullets entered the backside of his body while he lay on the floor, he said.

The Gersbolls are gunsmiths with a federal license and the scales found in the house were used for reloading ammunition, Guleserian said.

Arthur C. Wynn, attorney for Samantha Gersboll, said the search warrant for the raid was based on a false anonymous tip to police.

“The Gersbolls have never been involved in the sale of narcotics, “ Wynn said.

Richard Matthes of Mission Hills, foreman of the jury, said the jurors were skeptical about testimony regarding the way the shooting occurred.

“There was reasonable doubt in our minds, especially about all the holes in his back, that’s hard to account for,” Matthes said.

Trapp refused to comment on the verdict.

Guleserian, who had likened the case to the police beating of Rodney G. King, said the verdict sends a message to law enforcement officers.

“They have to be held accountable,” he said. “When there is no accountability, they have absolute power and power corrupts.”

An FBI spokesman said the agency is investigating the incident to determine if the Gersbolls’ civil rights were violated.