Baton Blows Against King by Powell Called Weak : Trial: The police supervisor at the beating also complained that the use of force also was ineffective, a police officer testifies.

The supervisor at Rodney G. King’s beating complained afterward that baton blows by Officer Laurence M. Powell were “weak and ineffective,” a policeman testified Thursday.

Sgt. Richard Di Stefano also testified that the supervisor, Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, told his watch commander that he had used an electronic stun gun on King and that “the officers used a lot of baton blows.”

Di Stefano, who was the assistant watch commander at Foothill Station on March 3, 1991, the night of the beating, was called to the stand by the defense in an effort to show there was no cover-up of force used by officers.

Koon, Powell, Officers Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J. Briseno are charged with intentionally violating the black motorist’s civil rights in the beating in which his face and a leg were fractured. The incident was videotaped by a resident.

The white officers were acquitted in the state trial last year, sparking deadly riots.

Powell has been identified as the officer who struck the most blows with his baton, but Di Stefano suggested that Koon wasn’t satisfied with his performance.

Under questioning by Powell’s lawyer, Michael Stone, Di Stefano related Koon’s comment about Powell’s baton performance.

“He said that he was weak and ineffective,” Di Stefano said.

On government cross-examination, Di Stefano said Powell later went to the station and complained that the altercation was long and that his arm was tired.

The government also contends that Wind and Powell falsified reports to hide the fact that they delayed medical treatment for King.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Steven Clymer said the reports contain no mention of a stop made by the officers and King at the Foothill Station before taking him to the hospital for treatment.

“Is there any way of telling from that report that defendants Powell and Wind took Rodney King back to Foothill Station rather than County-USC Medical Center?” asked Clymer.

“No way at all,” Di Stefano said.