Partner Describes Briseno’s Anger Over King Beating

Theodore J. Briseno, one of four Los Angels police officers on trial in the Rodney G. King beating, was outraged that his supervisor allowed excessive force when King was taken into custody last year, Briseno’s partner testified in court Friday.

Officer Rolando Solano, in a hearing outside the jury’s presence, said Briseno was agitated when they returned to their patrol car moments after King was beaten and kicked on a Lake View Terrace street March 3, 1991.

Solano recalled that Briseno was particularly unhappy with the conduct of Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, the supervising officer at the scene.

“He seemed to be very angry, very upset,” Solano said of Briseno. “He said something to the effect that ‘the sarge should have handled it better. Goddamn it, the sarge should have handled it better!’ ”

Solano also said Briseno felt that his fellow officers did not need to beat and kick King repeatedly because he would not lie still.

Solano, who was five months out of the Police Academy at the time of the beating, also quoted Briseno as saying: “I thought we were going to have to shoot him (King)! God, I thought we were going to be in a shooting!”

On the videotape of the arrest, Briseno is seen kicking King once. He also can be seen attempting to push away Powell’s baton, which shows that he was repulsed by the violence of his fellow officers and tried to stop the beating, his attorney, John Barnett, has argued.

Barnett is seeking to distance Briseno from the other officers. Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry White, who has yet to cross-examine Solano, said he favors the jury hearing about Briseno’s comments inside the patrol car. Judge Stanley M. Weisberg has not ruled on whether the jury can hear Solano’s account.

Earlier in the day, Solano told the jury that two baton blows delivered by Officer Laurence M. Powell glanced off King’s shoulders and struck his face, marking the first time a Los Angeles police officer has testified that any of the baton blows struck King’s head or face.

Several Police Department witnesses have testified that it is in violation of Los Angeles Police Department policy to threaten a suspect’s life by administering blows to the head or face. Deadly force is warranted only in life-threatening situations, and King was not considered a threat to the lives of officers at the scene, according to testimony.

Solano’s testimony backed up the recollections of two California Highway Patrol officers who said Powell hit King in the head with the first series of 56 baton blows seen on an amateur’s videotape of the beating.

“I didn’t like the sound it made,” Solano said about Powell’s striking of King. “It’s hard to describe. I’ve never heard that sound before.”

But Powell, through his attorney, Michael Stone, maintains that he never intentionally struck King on the head or face.

On Friday afternoon, Stone called a longtime emergency room physician who testified that the half a dozen facial fractures King suffered probably resulted from a fall to the ground, rather than baton blows.

“I believe it is highly unlikely that the facial fractures were the result of a blow from a baton such as this,” said Dr. Dallas C. Long, called as an expert witness.

Stone had called Solano as a witnesses mainly to show that officers were frightened by King’s behavior and his refusal to comply with orders to lie still.

Solano said he approached King first with his gun drawn and later with his baton ready. He said he was amazed at how King--who had been repeatedly struck, kicked and shot with an electric stun gun--seemed oblivious to pain and uncooperative with officers who were attempting to handcuff him.

“I drew my baton out of fear,” Solano said. “I was afraid of getting injured by Mr. King.”

Asked to describe the entire incident, he said: “I was very shocked by the whole thing.”

King was shot with the stun gun by Koon, and Powell and Officer Timothy E. Wind delivered all of the baton blows and kicks except the one that Briseno is shown delivering.

When the trial resumes Monday, Solano is expected to continue his testimony about the patrol car conversation. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.