King Case May Affect Raid Trial : 39th and Dalton: Attorneys on both sides of LAPD vandalism case worry that videotaped beating will make jury selection more difficult.

The controversy surrounding the videotaped police beating of motorist Rodney G. King has cast its huge shadow on jury selection in the criminal vandalism trial of four Los Angeles police officers implicated in an August, 1988, raid that left four apartments at 39th and Dalton streets a shambles.

After first weeding out citizens who, for whatever reasons, will not be able to serve in a trial expected to last a little longer than the Persian Gulf War, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Larry Paul Fidler will ask prospective jurors to answer a questionnaire that includes such queries as:

* “Have you ever witnessed police activity which caused you to question the propriety of the actions of any police officer?”

* “Do you have any strong opinions, one way or the other, about the Los Angeles Police Department, or about the way its members accomplish their duties?”

Defense attorneys and prosecutors said Wednesday, as jury selection began, that they are wary that the frequent broadcast of the amateur videotape showing the King beating by Los Angeles officers will hinder the ability to impanel an impartial jury.

“The King case is totally irrelevant to what happens here, or what happened at 39th and Dalton almost three years ago,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Darden. “We certainly don’t want any jurors who are prejudiced against officers simply because they belong to the LAPD.”

“It’s a bad, bad time for trying to get an impartial jury in a police case,” said Paul de Pasquale, defense attorney for Officer Charles A. Wilson.

In addition to the questionnaire, potential jurors are likely to face direct questions regarding the King case as the jury selection continues next week, De Pasquale said.

Fidler on Monday denied a defense request to delay the trial for two months to let the King controversy blow over, saying close questioning of jurors could produce an impartial jury.

In addition to Wilson, the defendants accused of wrecking two duplexes in the 3900 block of Dalton Street during a large-scale police narcotics raid on Aug. 1, 1988, include police Capt. Thomas D. Elfmont, the former commander of the Southwest Division; Sgt. Charles Spicer and Officer Todd Parrick. The charges include misdemeanor vandalism and conspiracy.

Barry Levin, defense attorney for Elfmont, said the King case could prompt “jurors to potentially lash out at a particular case of police abuse and organizational mismanagement.”

Levin likened the charges against Elfmont to the clamor for Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to resign. In both cases, the lawyer said, “They’re trying to make him (the commander) responsible for everything his officers do.”

The 39th and Dalton case led to internal disciplinary actions against dozens of the 80 officers involved in the raid. Before the King beating, it had been the Police Department’s most notorious abuse case in recent years.

According to prosecutors, Spicer and patrol officers were working under Elfmont’s orders when they descended on the homes targeted as sites for gang and narcotics activity and caused widespread damage to the property. Parrick used an ax and Wilson a homemade battering ram to destroy doors, walls and windows, according to police Internal Affairs Division reports. Investigators catalogued 127 acts of vandalism, down to the smashing of a piggy bank.

Officers had search warrants and ostensibly were looking for drugs. The raid resulted in the seizure of one rifle, 18.6 grams of rock cocaine and about five ounces of marijuana. Two teen-agers were ultimately charged with narcotics possession.

Further controversy was sparked by reports that a police sergeant was working as a defense investigator in the case. After Mayor Tom Bradley eventually asked the Police Commission to probe those allegations, Chief Gates called Bradley’s request “dumb.”