Lawyers Ask Judge to Move Trial of Officers : King case: One says a ‘lynch mob atmosphere’ exists. The publicity surrounding the beating of a black motorist makes a fair trial impossible for LAPD sergeant and patrolmen, they contend.

Attorneys for four Los Angeles police officers accused of beating Rodney G. King asked a judge Monday to delay the trial and move it elsewhere, claiming a pervasive “lynch mob atmosphere” makes it impossible for a fair trial.

“It will be impossible,” wrote attorney William Kopeny, who represents Officer Theodore J. Briseno, “to find a single juror who has not seen portions of the . . . video numerous times, and virtually impossible to find a juror who has not already decided the issue of guilt.”

Added Darryl Mounger, who represents Sgt. Stacey C. Koon: “A ‘lynch mob’ atmosphere currently pervades the community at a level not tolerated by the court since the days of the wild, wild West. And until the harmful pretrial publicity subsides, no trial date should be set in this matter.”

In arguing for a change of venue, the defense lawyers cited a survey of potential jurors conducted last week for the police union that showed that eight of 10 polled believe that the defendants are guilty.

In other motions filed Monday, two officers--Briseno and Koon--asked to be tried separately. Their lawyers said neither can get a fair trial if tried along with Officers Laurence M. Powell and Timothy Wind, who are shown repeatedly striking King in the videotape made by a Lake View Terrace resident.

Mounger also called for dismissal of the charges on grounds that included allegations of “prosecutorial misconduct” during grand jury proceedings. Kopeny asked that the grand jury indictment be dismissed because prosecutors allegedly withheld “substantial exculpatory evidence,” including some eyewitness accounts, and presented inflammatory, inadmissible evidence.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins said he intends to rule on the foot-high stack of motions after hearing oral arguments May 6 and expects to begin trial May 13. He said he will appoint “stand-by counsel” for any defense attorney who cannot be ready on time.

“I personally don’t find this is a complex case,” Kamins said, in rejecting pleas for more time. “What is complex is the political overtones out in the community.”

All four officers are charged with criminal assault, excessive force and other charges related to the March 3 beating and arrest of King. Koon was the supervisor at the scene and Briseno is alleged to have kicked King in the head.

Prosecutors, who have until Monday to respond in writing, declined comment.

The judge said he views his courtroom as “a bastion of fairness. . . . I know I cannot provide a perfect trial, but I’m sure I can provide a fair trial,” he told the lawyers.

The hearing took a contentious turn when Mounger, in asking that certain motions be sealed, implied that prosecutors are leaking information to the media. Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry White suggested that Mounger and his colleagues quit complaining about time pressures and “work nights and weekends, as I’ve been doing.”

The defense lawyers’ request to move the trial cited a 103-page report on a survey of 1,000 potential jurors, commissioned by the Los Angeles Police Protective League and conducted last week by pollster Arnold Steinberg. The poll found that 97% of those surveyed had heard or read about the beating; 81% believed that the officers are “more likely guilty”; 3% indicated that the officers were “more likely not guilty,” and the remaining 16% said they were unsure.

While motions to move trials elsewhere in the state are routine in high-profile cases, they are rarely granted. Only two requests to move a trial have been granted in Los Angeles County in more than two decades--a 1969 bribery case involving a city official and a 1973 murder of a 4-year-old.

Other highly publicized cases--such as the McMartin Pre-School, Charles Manson and Night Stalker trials--failed to win changes of venue. It is a rarity because the 3.5 million potential jurors in the county’s central district provide the largest base in the United States for any Superior Court.