Expert Says Baton Swings Missed King; Testimony Purged : Trial: Defense witness says motorist was only hit 20 times. Remarks are stricken because he did not explain how he arrived at the analysis.

A witness billed by defense attorneys as a police use-of-force expert testified Thursday that Rodney G. King was struck about 20 times, despite the fact that as many as 56 baton swings can be seen on an amateur videotape of his arrest last year.

Robert Michael, a retired Los Angeles Police Department captain, said his analysis of the 81-second videotape revealed that three dozen of the baton swings--delivered by Officers Laurence M. Powell and Timothy E. Wind--missed King as he refused to lie still on a street in Lake View Terrace.

But Michael, who said he has viewed parts of the videotape more than 300 times, did not elaborate on his theory about the number of blows that hit King.

John Barnett, an attorney who represents Officer Theodore J. Briseno, objected to the questioning because the witness did not explain how he arrived at his analysis. Judge Stanley M. Weisberg ordered the comments stricken from the court record.

Barnett has tried to distance his client from the other officers by maintaining that Briseno was repulsed by the violence and tried to stop it.

Defense attorneys called Michael to the witness stand for a second day in an attempt to prove that all of the force used on King on March 3, 1991, was reasonable and necessary. He was the second expert witness called by the defense to state that conclusion.

Michael said the force appeared justified because King repeatedly ignored the officers’ orders to lie still.

He said that King’s movements on the ground, in which he can be seen raising his hands and legs, were threatening to the officers.

“It was combative,” Michael said of King’s actions. “It was aggressive. It was assaultive. It was resistive.”

Later in the day, Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry White attacked Michael’s credentials.

Under cross-examination, Michael acknowledged that he published the two books he wrote about police techniques, that most of his career was spent in field patrol and administrative duties rather than in training police in proper use of force, and that he was off duty because of stress-related injuries during his last eight years with the Police Department.

When Michael finished his testimony, Darryl Mounger, lawyer for Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, rested his case. Michael Stone, attorney for Powell, called his first witness, LAPD Officer Louis Turriaga, one of the more than two dozen officers at the beating.

Like other officers who were bystanders, Turriaga testified that he saw only a few of the blows because his attention was distracted by other events.

“I saw Officer Powell standing next to Mr. King with his baton raised, and I saw Mr. King in the asphalt, on his knees, forearms and hands,” Turriaga said.

“What I saw next was Mr. King making a lunging motion and Officer Powell doing a forward and reverse power stroke in the direction of Mr. King.”

Turriaga also said he did not hear Powell or any other officers laughing or talking about the beating later, as prosecutors have attempted to demonstrate with a police radio transcription that is often muddled, with the voices difficult to discern.

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to resume this morning with more testimony in Powell’s defense. More officers who were bystanders are expected to testify, along with a physician who is to talk about the extent of King’s injuries.