Some Prospective King Case Jurors Blast Officers’ Actions

A black woman called as a possible juror Friday lashed out at four police officers on trial in the Rodney G. King case, comparing the alleged assault of King to a “dog beating.”

She sharply criticized the officers for coming to the courthouse “smiling” and looking “well-rested” and said she could not believe that Officer Theodore J. Briseno, who is Latino, “would be motivated into undue force against another race.”

She said she had formed her opinion after seeing a videotape showing police officers beating King, a black motorist who was stopped by police March 3.

The middle-aged woman’s remarks--reflected in a written questionnaire and brought on by questioning from attorneys and Judge Stanley M. Weisberg--were the most pointed to come out during jury selection this week, although other prospective jurors also said they were shocked or outraged after seeing the videotape.

Many said the tape, which received nationwide attention, caused them to have negative feelings about the Los Angeles Police Department.

On Thursday, an elderly white man likened the King video to the notorious film footage of a general in South Vietnam’s national police shooting a man in the side of the head during the Vietnam War. “I was immediately horrified by what I saw,” the science teacher said.

While the man was asked to return for further questioning, the black woman questioned Friday was excused from the jury panel when she told the judge and lawyers that she “absolutely” could not fairly and impartially judge the four defendants.

“I really feel in my heart and soul that four police officers, with malice in their hearts, did violently bludgeon, kick, step on and restrain with force a man whose skin color . . . made it easier for them not to show any emotion or any concern for his well-being,” the woman, a real estate agent, also said in the jury questionnaire.

“I watched them . . . as they looked around at all of the prospective jurors and thought to myself how well-rested they looked.

“And as they talked with their attorneys and smiled from time to time, I thought: ‘I wonder if having your jaw broken two or three times stops you from smiling a full smile?’ I’m sure Rodney didn’t smile after his dog beating.”

Focusing on Briseno, the woman said in the questionnaire: “I find it hard to believe that a Hispanic would be motivated into undue force against another race or color when (Hispanics) have been so poorly treated by some whites, some Asians and some blacks.”

John Barnett, Briseno’s attorney, declined to comment on the woman’s characterization of his client.

Michael Stone, attorney for Officer Laurence M. Powell, said the woman misread the four officers’ expressions when they were asked earlier this month to stand to be introduced to hundreds of jury panel members at the East County Courthouse in Simi Valley.

“I gather she expected the defendants to have downcast eyes and to be remorseful,” Stone said. “In her mind, they should be down on their knees begging for mercy.”

The Los Angeles Police Department’s image also came up in other questionnaires released Friday. In one, a middle-aged white man said Police Chief Daryl F. Gates “can’t keep his officers in line.”

Another middle-aged white man said: “Replacement of Chief Gates is instrumental to necessary change. How can a chief with a strong intelligence (unit) know so much about the criminal world and not be sampling the tempo within his organization?”

But some potential jurors were complimentary of the Police Department. “I have heard excellent reports that they have done a great job controlling the gang problem in Los Angeles,” a young Latina said.

After three days of jury selection this week, 77 people have been asked to return for further questioning. In addition, another 130 potential jurors are to be questioned next week.

Officers Briseno and Powell, ex-Officer Timothy E. Wind and Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, have pleaded not guilty in the case.