Christopher Panel Drops Bid for Personnel Files
The Christopher Commission has withdrawn its request to review the confidential personnel files of the four Los Angeles police officers charged in the Rodney G. King beating rather than allow an outsider to sit in on its closed-door deliberations, a commission lawyer said Tuesday.
The requirement that a court representative be present during any discussions about the files among 10 commissioners was one of several conditions imposed Monday by Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Kamins.
Mark Epstein, who is acting as legal counsel to the commission, said the commissioners did not want to violate their otherwise strictly kept policy of deliberating in private. They believe, he said, that the presence of an outsider would hinder “the free flow of discussion” of panel members as they debate what will be in a report, due July 1, on the Los Angeles Police Department and excessive use force by officers.
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