Selection of Jury Begins in King Case : Jurisprudence: The four officers watch solemnly as the first batch of prospects are quizzed. Some strong opinions are expressed.

A woman who said a videotape convinced her that police used unnecessary force to beat black motorist Rodney King was excused as a potential juror Wednesday in the assault trial of four officers.

“The officers were obviously beating the man, which was unnecessary because the man was on the ground in handcuffs,” said Benay Cain, who was among the first group of prospects questioned for the trial.

Asked whether she thought the Los Angeles police officers seen on the tape were guilty or innocent of assault charges, she said, “I would believe they are guilty.”

In further questioning by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg, Cain said she could put her opinion aside and decide the case on the evidence presented in court

Asked if she had any doubt about putting her opinion aside, the prospect said, “I think we would all have a little bit of doubt.”

Weisberg granted a defense challenge to remove her for cause over prosecution objections. The defense said her written questionnaire stated the strong opinion: “The officers were obviously beating the man which was definitely unnecessary.”

The four defendants watched solemnly as a parade of prospective jurors were quizzed individually with other panelists absent.

Some were excused because they said the trial would be a hardship. Three were removed for unspecified reasons without ever entering the jury box. Among those who passed the first round of questioning was a Latino man who said his father had been beaten by Los Angeles police in the 1930s and a woman who said she believed that racism may have sparked King’s beating.

One woman prospect who remained on the panel said she had seen the videotape of the beating, but “I was curious to know what had happened before the video.”

Defense lawyers have said they will show that King incited the beating before a neighbor turned on his camera and recorded the scene.

Sgt. Stacey Koon, 41, and Officers Theodore Briseno, 39, Laurence Powell, 29, and Timothy Wind, 31, are charged with the March 3, 1991, beating.

The case inflamed public opinion nationwide and spurred protests of police brutality. It became the focus of a political battle in Los Angeles that led to transfer of the trial to adjacent Ventura County.

The first phase of questioning concerned prospective jurors’ exposure to publicity. Many said they read The Times and followed the case on local TV and radio.

The judge, who summoned a first group of 40 panelists to court, reiterated his orders that they avoid all news of the case from now on. Those who are chosen as jurors will have a “clipping service,” he said, with court personnel cutting out articles on the case and saving them to show jurors at the end of the trial.

Weisberg did all questioning of prospects with attorneys submitting written questions for him to ask. California’s recently enacted speedy-trial initiative removes the chance for attorneys to question jurors personally.

In the aftermath of a media challenge to secrecy surrounding the jurors’ written questionnaires, Weisberg told panelists that their answers would be made public. Members of the media were given one copy of each panelist’s form to view only while that person was in the jury box, an average of five minutes.