The Rodney King Incident.

"Can't we all get along"

On March 3, 1991, in Los Angeles, California, several police cars chased Rodney G. King, a robbery parolee who was allegedly speeding. Two friends were with him in the car. After a police chase during which he drove through several intersections against red lights, King was forced to stop. Although the two passengers in the car complied with police requests to exit the car and were subdued with minor resistance, King apparently refused to exit the car. This proved to be a bad move due to the amount of adrenaline that was flowing through the officers veins. King was physically removed from the car. He was beat by officers wielding batons, kicked at least six times, and shot with a stun gun. The beating was administered by three Los Angeles police officers, allegedly at the order of a police sergeant who was on the scene. Twenty-three other law enforcement officers were also present and watched the beating, but apparently made no effort to stop it. Maybe they should have assisted in subduing king.  There were also several civilian bystanders, including George Holiday, who witnessed the incident. Holiday videotaped the beating of King. These tapes were played over and over by the media with blow by blow commentary leaving an ever lasting impression.  King suffered extensive injuries as a result of the beating, including skull fractures and nerve damage to part of his face.  

On March 15, 1991, three police officers  Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and police sergeant Stacey Koon, were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in connection with the beating. All four were charged with "assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and a deadly weapon" and with assault "under color of authority". The deadly weapons involved were police batons or nightsticks, except in the case of Briseno, who was charged only with using his feet to kick King. Powell and Koon also were charged with filing false reports, and Koon was charged with being an accessory. Koon did not actively participate in the beating but allegedly aided and abetted it. 

Prior to the trial on these charges, the accused sought to obtain a change of venue for the trial to a county other than Los Angeles County. Judging from the Simpson verdict this was a good move. The change of venue application, originally denied at trial, was granted on appeal. The California Court of Appeal, Second District, approved the change of venue application, given the extensive pre-trial publicity surrounding the case, the fact that the defendants' being police officers had caused a high level of indignation and outrage, and political factors involving criticism of the then Chief of  Police, Daryl Gates. The trial site chosen was Simi Valley in Ventura County. Simi Valley is a predominantly white, middle-class community 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The jury was made up of ten whites, one Hispanic and one Asian. 

On April 29, 1992, the jury found the accused not guilty of the charges. The must have been watching another video. The result of the verdicts was immediate: rioting, which resulted in loss of life and extensive damage to property (more than 50 dead and upwards of one billion dollars in damage). Many legal commentators argued that a major reason for the verdicts of not guilty was the change of venue to a location that was not comparable demographically to Los Angeles County.  

These acquittals on state criminal charges, however, did not end the matter. Under federal law, the officers could also be prosecuted for violation of Rodney King's constitutional rights. Many felt this was double jeapordy but infact this was llegal. On Friday, April 17, 1993, the jury rendered its verdicts on these prosecutions. Two police officers, Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, were found guilty of the charges against them. The other two officers, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind, were found not guilty. The jury in this instance was composed of nine white persons, two black persons and one Hispanic person. Unlike the previous trial, no riots broke out as a result of the verdicts. Instead, there appeared to be a collective sigh of relief. On August 4, 1993, these officers were sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the beating of Rodney King. 

Although the Rodney King beating and the subsequent acquittals at the first state trial clearly raised in the public's mind the issue of racism in American society, none of the prosecutions specifically alleged racial motivation. Indeed, it was only at the later federal trial that Rodney King, taking the stand for the first time, initially testified that the officers had made racial epithets at the time of his beating; even then, he later had to admit that he was unsure that the police did in fact use such epithets. Even though the officers were white and King black, I don't believe they made any racists comments during the incident. They were too busy beating the shit out of him. King himself was unclear about this matter.

Even though King  is no angle, the images of the beating hurt the perception of law enforcement in America.