Judge Refuses to Exclude Juror From King Case

Attorneys for three of the four Los Angeles police officers indicted in the Rodney G. King beating urged a judge Thursday to excuse a potential juror who said she remembered hearing that one of the officers had made a racist remark over the police radio on the night of the beating.

Judge Stanley M. Weisberg refused to grant the defense attorneys’ request, and at day’s end, the middle-aged white woman was included among 48 people asked to return next week to the courthouse in Simi Valley for further examination.

King was beaten March 3 and the incident was captured on videotape. Earlier that evening, one of the officers--Laurence M. Powell, who is white--allegedly used his police radio to describe an incident involving black people as being right out of “Gorillas in the Mist.”

All four officers have pleaded not guilty in the case. Jury selection continues today.