NAACP Official Criticizes Venue Change in King Case : Courts: Head of local chapter says residents of mainly white, conservative Ventura County will never convict officers accused of beating black motorist.

Calling the track record for blacks in Ventura County’s courts abysmal, the head of the local NAACP chapter has blasted the decision to move the trial in the Rodney G. King beating case from Los Angeles to Ventura County.

John R. Hatcher III, president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People’s Ventura County chapter, said in a letter distributed to local newspapers that most Ventura County blacks feel their county is “the home breeding ground for the David Dukes, Tom Metzgers and skinheads of America.”

“It is a slap in the face to have the Rodney King case tried in Ventura County,” the letter said of the highly charged case, in which four white officers are accused in the beating of the black motorist.

Hatcher said moving the King trial to the mostly white, politically conservative county increases the chances that the officers will be found not guilty.

“They would be better off going to Mississippi,” Hatcher said. “Rodney King is on trial, not those officers. King will lose and the officers will win.”

These were the first public comments from a prominent member of Ventura County’s black community on the decision to move the case to a courtroom in Simi Valley.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the trial moved from Los Angeles last week, saying that the highly charged political atmosphere in Los Angeles would make a fair hearing there impossible.

In choosing Ventura County, Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg rejected the prosecution’s argument that the trial should be moved to a more racially diverse, less conservative area. Both prosecution and defense attorneys have said they believe they can get a fair trial in Ventura County.

Several Ventura County law enforcement officials called Hatcher’s comments inflammatory and questioned his figures.

“I think it’s outrageous, irresponsible and typical,” Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said. “He makes outlandish allegations, has no support for them, and, when challenged to provide support, he’s never heard from again. . . . He’s an irresponsible spokesman for a very fine organization.”

Hatcher said that 80% of blacks who are tried in the county’s courts receive jail time. He said he arrived at the figure from his own random survey of court cases in the county involving blacks.

Bradbury said that 80% to 90% of all people charged with crimes in Ventura County are convicted, regardless of race.

Hatcher also charged that a fair trial is impossible in Ventura County because the county is only 2% black, and because Simi Valley in particular--a bedroom community for many Los Angeles police officers--has strong police support.

The NAACP’s local office has received several calls from county residents who also question the move, said Hatcher, who has lived in Ventura County since 1964.

Times staff writer Gary Gorman contributed to this story.