VENICE : Man Gets Year in Assault on Bicyclist During Riots

A man accused in the beating of a bicyclist in Venice during the first hours of the spring’s civil unrest was sentenced Monday to a year in jail.

James Hill, 23, pleaded no contest to charges that he and four black co-defendants attacked the white bicyclist in the Oakwood section of Venice a few hours after four police officers were acquitted in the Rodney G. King beating trial.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge David Perez also placed Hill, who was once convicted of drug possession, on probation for three years.

A second defendant, Shauntee Snodgrass, 21, was released after Perez suspended a four-year sentence on Nov. 5. Snodgrass, who also entered a no-contest plea, was given three years probation and ordered to pay $300 in restitution to bicyclist Mark Rosenberg. Rosenberg was beaten unconscious and suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone in the April 29 incident.

A third defendant, Arron Soil, was acquitted. Charges against two others were dropped.