2 ‘Formidable’ Lawyers Take Officer’s Case in King Beating : Courts: William Kopeny and John Barnett, who have been involved in some of the county’s best known trials, now face what may be their biggest challenge.

Between them, they have represented some of Orange County’s most notorious defendants under circumstances that many have considered unwinnable. Their clients have included mass murderer Randy Kraft and Dr. Thomas Gionis, accused of being the mastermind of an attack on his ex-wife, actor John Wayne’s daughter.

But lawyers John D. Barnett and William J. Kopeny may have taken on their most difficult case when they agreed to team up to represent Theodore J. Briseno, one of the Los Angeles police officers now facing assault charges in the Rodney G. King beating trial.

Barnett likens his client’s situation to the “hang ‘em high” days of the Wild West.

“From the moment the video (of King’s arrest) was first broadcast, I think virtually everybody had his neck in the noose,” he said. “Signing up to stand next to (Briseno) on the scaffold, trying to get his neck out of the noose, is a challenge.”

Said Kopeny: “All of (the defendants) have already been pronounced guilty in the world press. Defending them might be one of the biggest challenges faced by a lawyer in contemporary time.”

Their task, the lawyers say, is to find 12 impartial jurors to decide a case that is loaded with political implications. Then, they’ll have to overcome nearly a year of pretrial publicity. Additionally, they’ll have to deal with the vivid images captured March 3 on videotape that show King getting battered with batons before being handcuffed and arrested.

Among their colleagues, Barnett and Kopeny are considered two of the most respected criminal lawyers in Orange County. Barnett is known as a tenacious trial attorney whose preparation for a case is legendary. Kopeny has a reputation as a gifted legal scholar who crafts some of the most eloquent and convincing writs, appeals and motions.

“Together, they make a hell of a team. A formidable pair,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge Myron S. Brown, who has had both attorneys try cases before him.

“If I were in trouble I would like to have them on my side,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge Luis A. Cardenas, who has also seen both attorneys in action. “The police officer who hired them made a great choice.”

Even before the opening statements have been made in the trial, Briseno’s lawyers have already been instrumental in winning several significant defense victories, including getting a change of venue to Simi Valley and removing the initial judge on grounds that he was biased in favor of the prosecution.

“Those two things are virtually unprecedented,” Barnett said, noting that other high-profile defendants such as cult leader and murderer Charles Manson and assassin Sirhan Sirhan were denied change of venues. “There hasn’t been one in Los Angeles in 35 or 40 years.”

Many legal observers credit those initial victories to Kopeny’s talent as a motions writer.

Both attorneys, however, admit that the ultimate victory--an acquittal for their client--won’t be easy. Briseno, who is accused of kicking King in the head during the arrest, is charged with criminal assault and excessive force.

The attorneys declined to discuss Briseno’s defense.

But Barnett warned: “If what Officer Briseno did is determined to be criminal, then officers across the state will be crippled in their efforts to fight crime and rid the streets of dangerous criminals.”

Despite complaints about press coverage, the personal strains of trying a case in Ventura County, and, as Kopeny said, “elected officials pronouncing our client’s guilt before the trial,” both attorneys admit they are eager for the trial to begin.

“It appeared to me from the beginning that this would be as close as a legal lynching as we get, and I want to see what I can do to prevent that,” said Barnett, who will be staying in a hotel room in Simi Valley during the course of the trial. “I look forward to the trial, that’s for sure.”

The other defendants accused in the King case are: Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, represented by attorney Darryl Mounger of Los Angeles; Officer Timothy Wind, represented by attorney Paul DePasquale of Los Angeles; and Officer Laurence M. Powell, whose attorneys are Patrick Thistle and Michael Stone, both of Los Angeles.

Early in their careers, both Barnett and Kopeny worked for the Orange County public defender’s office before embarking on private practices.

Public Defender Michael P. Giannini, who knew them during their days in the public defender’s office, said it was clear they were “star” attorneys from the start.

He said he first saw Kopeny in a conference at the public defender’s office talking to attorneys about writing appeals.

“I thought he was some specialist that we had brought in,” Giannini said. “It turned out he was our law clerk at the time. It was unbelievable.”

After graduating from USC Law School in 1974, Kopeny went back to the public defender’s office, this time as an attorney. He left after a year to pursue a civil practice, but said he didn’t enjoy that type of law and returned to the public defender’s office in 1979 before leaving for good in 1984 to join the defense team representing serial killer Randy Kraft.

During Kraft’s trial, Kopeny worked as the motions and appeals specialist.

Kraft’s conviction for 16 murders did little to tarnish Kopeny’s reputation as a talented motions lawyer. In fact, since the trial, he has been frequently called upon by state officials to write the appeals for other convicted killers on Death Row.

After the Kraft trial, Kopeny joined up with Barnett, who had started a private practice with William W. Stewart. Barnett had served a five-year stint in the public defender’s office.

A year ago, Kopeny, 41, of Laguna Hills left the law firm of Stewart & Barnett to start his own practice. Since his departure, Kopeny and Barnett have remained close associates and friends.

Barnett, 44, of Orange Park Acres graduated law school at the University of San Francisco in 1973. He also gets many referrals from the Police Protection League in Los Angeles to defend officers who are charged with crimes. Briseno, he said, was a referral from the league.

Throughout his career, Barnett has represented a number of officers, some with charges similar to Briseno’s.

“It strikes me as a little unfair that everybody is very, very circumspect and careful to protect the rights of persons who are professional criminals and those with extensive records, but when police officers are charged with crimes there seems to be different standards,” he said. “That bothers me.”

That belief, however, does not stop Barnett from tearing into law enforcement officials when they’re on the witness stand, testifying against his clients.

In one of his most publicized cases, Barnett won a mistrial for Dr. Thomas Gionis, largely on his cross-examination of a district attorney’s investigator. Gionis, who is charged with masterminding an attack on his ex-wife, Aissa Wayne, John Wayne’s daughter, awaits a second trial. Kopeny wrote the motions in the Gionis case.

Barnett’s colleagues say he is at his best in the courtroom, particularly during cross-examination.

“John has excellent argument and cross-examination skills and has a great presence with the jury,” said former Orange County Dist. Atty. Anthony Rackauckas, now a municipal judge in Fullerton.

Rackauckas, who had tried a case against Barnett and Kopeny, said both are tireless workers and will be a handful for the prosecution in the King trial.

“They’re a quite an effective team,” he said. “I’m glad I’m not trying cases against them anymore.”

High-Profile Cases

John D. Barnett and William J. Kopeny, two county attorneys representing one of the Los Angeles police officers in the Rodney King beating case, know what it’s like to be involved in high-profile trials. Here are some of the cases they have handled.

JOHN D. BARNETT

Dr. Thomas A. Gionis--Gionis is accused of masterminding the Oct. 3, 1988, attack on his former wife, Aissa Wayne, daughter of John Wayne. Prosecutors contend that Gionis hired three men to assault Wayne and her boyfriend because Gionis was upset over a custody arrangement involving their child. His first trial ended Dec. 20, 1990, in a hung jury. Gionis, who has since retained another attorney, is expected to be retried in April.

Jose Luis Razo Jr.--A former Harvard student from La Habra, Razo was convicted of committing a series of armed robberies in the county during vacation breaks from school from 1985 to 1987. Although Barnett was successful in getting Razo acquitted of several robbery counts, his client, then 22, was still sentenced on Aug. 25, 1989, to more than 10 years in prison.

Danny Harris--Harris has been charged with attacking about 20 women, many of them elderly, from 1985 to 1988. In pretrial hearings, Barnett persuaded a judge to throw out DNA evidence and dismiss the charges. The district attorney’s office has since refiled charges against Harris, and Barnett has taken himself off the case because of conflicts. Harris’ trial is scheduled to begin in March.

WILLIAM J. KOPENY

Randy Kraft--Kraft was convicted in 1989 of murdering 16 men. Kopeny, one of three attorneys in one of the most sensational cases ever tried in the county, handled the appeals and motions for Kraft, who ultimately received the death penalty. Prosecutors had alleged that Kraft, who was arrested in 1983, killed 45 men in Southern California, Oregon and Michigan during a killing spree that lasted more than a decade. Most of his victims were hitchhikers whose bodies were dumped along freeway ramps or in remote areas. Many of them had been sexually mutilated.

Thomas Edwards--Edwards was convicted of the 1981 slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Cleveland National Forest. Prosecutors said he shot the girl between the eyes with a 12-gauge shotgun. He also wounded a friend of the girl with a shotgun blast to the head. Edwards was eventually sentenced in 1986 to die in the gas chamber after he fired his attorneys and represented himself in the retrial of his penalty phase. Kopeny, then with the county public defender’s office, was one of several attorneys who have represented Edwards.