Questionnaires Reveal Attitudes of King Jury : Trial: Responses show unidentified panel members opinions on police behavior and the beating incident.

Several days into the trial of four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of beating motorist Rodney G. King, a rattled juror reported to Judge Stanley M. Weisberg that a friend had recognized the back of her head on a television broadcast.

The next day, Weisberg delayed the court session for nearly an hour as he sought to guarantee jurors that they will not be photographed again and that their anonymity will remain intact.

Although Weisberg has succeeded in keeping the names of the jury’s six men and six women secret, a glimpse of their interests and attitudes are contained in a 41-page questionnaire each completed before being chosen to sit in judgment of four men whose videotaped actions rocked Los Angeles and opened a national debate on police brutality.

The questionnaires were used by the defense and prosecution in picking 12 jurors and six alternates from more than 140 Ventura County residents summoned to a Simi Valley courtroom where the trial was moved because of intense publicity and political fallout in Los Angeles County.

According to the questionnaires, the jurors are 39 to 65 years old and their jobs range from managing a $15-million government contract to a grounds maintenance worker for a college. All jurors continued their educations beyond high school and at least two have completed college degrees.

One emigrated from the Philippines. Another, a 65-year-old, volunteers for her neighborhood security patrol. Another has been jailed on outstanding traffic warrants. Two are retired. All are married and have children. Eight have either served in the armed forces or have spouses who have been in the military, going back as far as World War II.

About half belong to such organizations as the Toastmasters, a senior citizens’ patrol group, a camera club and a quilting group. Their television preferences lean toward news and sports, although a couple said they are fond of “Unsolved Mysteries.”

A nurse from Olive View Medical Center wrote that she particularly likes to read “medical and nursing textbooks” and recently finished a biography of Madame Curie. Also popular among the jurors are authors James Michener, Tom Clancy and Shirley MacLaine. One juror said she was reading “Grace--The Secret Lives of Princess Grace.”

In two pages of questions on the possession or use of firearms, five members of the panel said they owned or used guns while in the military or for hunting or recreational target shooting. Three belong to the National Rife Assn.

Simi Valley is said to be politically conservative and racially homogeneous--a fact exemplified by the jury’s composition. One member is Asian-American, one is Latina; none are black.

The jurors said they had all heard about the King beating, although to varying degrees.

“All I remember is a picture of a black man with swollen eyes,” said a female alternate juror who joined the panel’s regulars Friday after a juror was dismissed for personal reasons.

Asked if they had formed an opinion about the case, four jurors said they had negative feelings toward the four defendants--Stacey C. Koon, Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J. Briseno.

“I didn’t feel it took as many officers present to arrest and subdue one man,” one juror said.

Another commented that from the “partial clips on TV, it had looked to me like excessive force was used in this arrest. However, I do not really know the whole story of what actually happened.”

At least one juror seemed to question the motives of those who have sought the removal of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

“I question if this case should have impact on Chief Gates’ status,” one juror wrote. “It seems this case is being used by people needing ammunition against him. Until this incident, I was unaware of such discontent with his performance.”

Jurors’ attitudes toward police could play a significant role when they begin deliberating their verdict.

Three jurors have relatives who have served on police departments, including a woman who said her stepfather was a police officer in Portland, Ore., and another who said his brother is a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant.

The jurors were asked whether they believed that police officers treated people in low-income neighborhoods differently from residents of middle- and upper-income areas. Without elaborating, at least two said they believed that people in poor neighborhoods receive different treatment, while nine said police treat citizens the same regardless of the area. One was undecided.

Only one juror has even had a minor brush with the law. The juror, a 38-year-old computer programmer, said he was stopped because he fit the description of a wanted suspect and was jailed briefly on outstanding traffic warrants.

Although only one juror reported having been arrested, seven said they had been victims of crimes ranging from robbery to assault--someone threw a bottle at one juror. Three said they had witnessed crimes.

On the questionnaires, all said they had positive opinions of police in general and the role of police officers.

One juror wrote: “I think they have a very tough job.” Another said: “I don’t know any police officers personally, but the ones I’ve come in contact with have been polite and helpful.”

Nonetheless, all jurors said that police officers should be prosecuted if they use unnecessary force. Officers “should be held responsible for the existing law,” said a retired teacher from Camarillo.

Reflecting a similar sentiment, a divorced father of four maintained that officers should be prosecuted “if there is a belief that any crime has been committed.”

Their reasons for wanting to serve on the panel and the sense of responsibility they bring to their task are as varied as the jurors’ backgrounds.

“Honestly, I had not formed an opinion on this case simply because I don’t know of anybody who went through what Mr. King and the police officers went through,” said the Asian-American juror.

Wrote another: “I would like to know what really happened--not all the hype.”