Officer in Beating Case Admits at Trial That He Lied to His Supervisors : Violence: Defendant says he told his partner, ‘We were never there,’ as they were called for questioning. But he denies using excessive force.

The police officer on trial for beating two people on a Pacoima street corner last year admitted Tuesday that he advised his rookie partner “we were never there” as supervisors summoned them for questioning.

Lance L. Braun, a now-retired Los Angeles police officer charged with excessive force, testified in Los Angeles Superior Court he lied to supervisors about his whereabouts at the time of the incident to protect himself.

“I wanted to find out what the supervisors had, what the complaint was before any statements were made,” he said.

Braun is accused of beating Theresa Carney, 25, and William Gable, 44, with his baton while they stood at the corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Pala Avenue on Aug. 2, 1990. The incident occurred after Braun ordered them and others to disperse and they failed to obey.

Braun testified that he did “nothing wrong” and had acted in self-defense in his encounters with Carney and Gable. The corner was a well-known “gathering place” for rock cocaine sales, open drinking and prostitution, he said.

Braun worked out of the Foothill Division before his retirement last April, the same month charges against him were filed. These came a month after the Rodney G. King beating incident, which resulted in assault and excessive force charges against four other members of the same division.

In previous testimony, Carney said Braun “jabbed” her side with his baton, and Gable said Braun struck him “10 to 15 times.” Last month, Carney filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Braun and the city.

Braun’s partner that evening, Scott Kennedy, testified he saw no beating. But later that night, after supervisors ordered them back to Foothill to discuss the incident, Kennedy said Braun told him: “Don’t worry about it. We were never there.”

Braun said he made that statement because “I did not want to admit being at the scene” until he found out more about the complaint.

“After 20 years experience with personnel complaints, the way they’re handled by the Police Department, I know they’re not handled fairly, and that being a police officer, our rights are constantly violated,” Braun said.

Kennedy previously testified that he also lied at first and told supervisors they were “never there,” because he interpreted Braun’s remark as a request. He later changed his story, and Braun received a 22-day suspension.

“I wanted Scott to make up his own mind and say what he wanted to say,” Braun testified.

“But you didn’t say, ‘Scott, I want you to say what you want to say,”’ Deputy Dist. Atty Jodi B. Rafkin countered. “You said, ‘We were never there.”’

Braun disputed the version of events described by the alleged victims. The former officer said he never struck Carney, but knocked her sideways with his hip because she had walked too close to him, and he wanted to “stop her.”

“When she got within a half-foot of me, I felt she was possibly a threat to me although she did not have any visible weapon,” Braun said, adding Carney was “invading my space.”

Braun admitted he hit Gable with his baton four times because Gable was carrying a 40-ounce beer bottle. “He was swinging it towards my face. I thought I was in imminent danger.”

Braun testified he had approached Gable to cite him for carrying an open container of alcohol. After their confrontation, Braun neither cited him for that violation nor arrested him for attacking a police officer.

Asked why, Braun said that Gable “said he was sorry. I observed he appeared to be very intoxicated. . . . I did not think it was worth the time and effort to make the arrest.”

After final arguments, the case is expected to go before the jury today. If convicted, Braun could face up to three years and eight months in prison.