The Rodney King Verdict: Did Our Justice System Fail? And Now What?

When I saw the 80-second tape, I too was aghast and called for action.

Twelve jurors were selected to try a case of excessive force. Both sides agreed the jury was “fair and impartial.” Testimony was presented and considered.

The jury was not asked to decide a simple yes or no fact, but was asked to judge an elusive matter of degree of force and was it “excessive.” The videotape alone was not enough. It did not tell us how much pain was involved, what was in the minds of all the players and what could have happened had this amount of force not been exerted. The jury had a tough decision to make and make it beyond a “reasonable doubt,” the same standard of measurement that protects all of us from undue punishment by the law.

They made it and made it unanimously. “Not guilty” was the verdict. The matter was over. Our system of justice had spoken. I am convinced that the judge did a great job, and based on listening to three jurors explain the verdict, they were diligent in considering all the evidence and were convinced in their own minds that the verdict was proper.

It should have stopped there. We should have been told by our leaders, “Let’s go forward, not backward.”

Instead, we were told by Mayor Tom Bradley not to accept our system of justice. It had failed us. He told us to be angry, as he is angry.

Is that responsible leadership?

Then, to top it off, our President went on national television to say that our system of justice had failed. He too said that we should be angry. Instead of stopping it, he prolonged the pain by announcing yet another lengthy legal process against these four policemen.

I can’t believe this is happening in America. Our leaders are undermining confidence at a time when confidence is so dearly needed.

JIM TAYLOR, Santa Ana