Ex-Teacher Convicted of Filing False Police Report

A former Compton high school teacher whose claim that students soaked her in excrement made national headlines last year was convicted Monday at Compton Municipal Court for filing a false police report.

Shannan Barron stood with her head lowered, sobbing, as the court clerk read the verdict, capping a misdemeanor trial that involved 24 witnesses, at least 100 hours of police time and lasted--including delays--more than a month.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the former Dominguez High School teacher had soiled herself and then invented a story of an attack to hide her embarrassment.

“This whole trial was all about clearing the good name of the students of Compton Unified School District,” Compton police Lt. Danny Sneed, the chief investigator on the case, said after the verdict.

Sneed also said it was important to prosecute Barron to deter other people from wasting police resources.

Barron avoided reporters by leaving the courthouse through an exit usually reserved for employees, according to bailiffs.

“She’s just exhausted, and obviously disappointed,” said one of Barron’s lawyers, Lorilee Gates.

Barron, 29, faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Judge Ellen C. Deshazer said she would set a sentencing date after she hears defense motions on July 22.

When Barron first made her claims last July, her comments drew wide media attention. She told reporters that four students dumped two buckets filled with human waste on her after an English class. School district officials investigating the claims refused to immediately confirm the allegations.

Barron’s story gained momentum when Compton school board members Saul Lankster and Basil Kimbrew--locked in a bitter dispute with the state over the takeover of the district--accused the state of trying to discredit Barron’s reputation and covering up other violent episodes against teachers.

But police said Barron’s statements were inconsistent. She was never able to identify any of her alleged attackers, officers said, and no witnesses came forward to corroborate her story.

When forensic tests showed that the bulk of human waste was inside Barron’s slacks, police accused the teacher of fabricating the incident.

After she was charged, Barron filed separate $3.5-million claims against Compton’s school district and Police Department, police and school officials said.

After the early whirlwind of publicity, Barron’s fate came to rest on the dry court testimony of criminalists, who for four days accounted for nearly every stain and splash found on the teacher’s white slacks. Prosecutors even flew one criminalist in from Northern California to testify for an afternoon.

Barron’s sibling attorneys--Angelyn and Lorilee Gates--highlighted a discovery by one criminalist of two blood types on the pants: A and B. Barron is blood type A. The finding of a second blood type supports Barron’s stories, the lawyers asserted.

But criminalist Brian Wraxall, who testified for the prosecution, said that the blood type evidence was not necessarily left by excrement.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Garie Lynn Oehler reminded the 10 men and two women on the jury that no witnesses testified to seeing the incident. And an examination of the slacks showed no sign of splashing that could be expected from something being thrown on them, she said.

Lorilee Gates said she will file motions for a new trial. Meanwhile, Oehler said she will ask the judge to order Barron to repay at least some of the costs of the police investigation into her claims.