Jury Awards $170,000 to Man Kicked by L.A. Officer

In perhaps the first Los Angeles police brutality case decided in the aftermath of verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial, a racially mixed jury determined Thursday that an African-American man was wrongly arrested and kicked by an officer in South Los Angeles.

Donald Boyd said the civil verdict in his favor “sends a message that police officers in South-Central can’t harass people just because they are black.”

The Superior Court jury of eight African-Americans, one Latino, and three Anglos awarded Boyd, a Los Angeles County probation officer, $170,000 in compensatory damages from the city of Los Angeles. The jury will continue deliberations today on whether to assess punitive damages against Officer Johnny Garcia, who kicked Boyd.

Garcia, 32, a 10-year veteran of the department, is a training officer.

Boyd, who was then 26, was stopped by two Newton Division officers, including Garcia, on Aug. 25, 1987. He was driving on Avalon Boulevard with a friend on their way to play basketball.

Boyd alleged that he was never told why officers stopped him with guns drawn, ordered him to get out of the car and kneel on the ground with his hands behind his head. He testified that when he kept asking, “What’s the probable cause? What’s the problem?” Garcia kicked him in the ribs. Boyd testified that he received emergency treatment at a hospital for his injuries.

No charges were filed against Boyd. Nor was he given a citation, although officers said later that the car he was driving had a broken taillight and expired registration.

During the trial, Deputy City Atty. Mary Cooper said the officers had probable cause to stop Boyd because of automobile violations, and that Garcia kicked him “in apprehension that Mr. Boyd was going to attack him.”

The jury was impaneled just after riots in Los Angeles ignited on April 29, after the not guilty verdicts by the nearly all-white Simi Valley jury for four police officers charged with beating King.

Boyd’s attorney, Richard DeBro, said that during his client’s trial Superior Court Judge Jan S. Pluim did not allow “even oblique references to the King case.”

But the makeup of the jury was important, DeBro said. “This case will send a message. If you get a jury that is a microcosm of the community--black, white, Mexican, Oriental--you will get a fair verdict on these kinds of cases. You might get a verdict that will exonerate an officer if it’s appropriate, but you won’t get a knee-jerk reaction.”

Cooper declined comment and said Garcia had no comment.

Boyd testified that after he informed Garcia and the other officer, Craig Miller, an Anglo, that he was a probation officer, they called a supervising sergeant, also an Anglo, who came to the scene and ordered him released.

Boyd sought compensation for about $5,000 in medical bills and lost work time, and $529,000 for pain and suffering. He said he was pleased with the compensatory damages awarded by the jury. Thursday was a doubly good day, he added, because, “my wife just had a baby boy today.”