King Jury Seeks Transcript, Picks Foreman

Five jurors in the Rodney G. King federal civil rights trial attended Easter services Sunday and then the entire panel resumed deliberations, at one point asking for the transcript of testimony from a witness who had tearfully said that one of the four police officers on trial had hit King in the head with a baton.

After deliberating for five hours, jurors ended their day just before 5 p.m. They will begin deliberating again this morning.

Also on Sunday, U.S. District Judge John G. Davies told lawyers that the jury had chosen a foreman, who, like his fellow jurors, remains unidentified except by his seat number in the jury box.

The request for the transcript, which was denied by the judge, was the first made by the jurors, and it touched off speculation regarding its potential significance. The witness whose testimony the jury requested was one of the most memorable of the six-week trial: California Highway Patrol Officer Melanie Singer.

Singer was called to the stand by the defense and offered some testimony helpful to the cases of the four Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with violating King’s civil rights. But she broke down and cried when she described six baton blows that she said Officer Laurence M. Powell delivered to King’s face and head.

“I’ll never forget it until the day I die,” Singer said at one point.

She also testified that King did not appear to be under the influence of PCP--a claim central to the officers’ defense. And she said she considered trying to give King first aid but decided not to because she was afraid that the other officers would heckle her.

All those points could work against the officers, but Singer’s testimony about the blows to King’s head was contradicted by medical experts called by defense attorneys.

It was unclear from the jurors’ note why they were requesting the transcript.

“You don’t really know what it means,” said Harland W. Braun, lawyer for Officer Theodore J. Briseno. “The danger to the defense is the emotion of her testimony. The specifics of her testimony help us, at least to the extent that they discredit her.”

Ira Salzman, the lawyer for Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, said he was heartened by the jury request because he interpreted it to mean that jurors were focusing on details of Singer’s testimony that were challenged.

Davies responded to the jury note in writing, saying he would not honor the request for a transcript. He told lawyers he did not want jurors to put undue emphasis on a single witness and added that he would deny any similar requests for transcripts of testimony by other witnesses.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Steven D. Clymer requested that Davies consider agreeing to have specific sections of testimony read back to jurors if they ask for them. Davies said he would consider those requests if they arise.

The foreman of the eight-man, four-woman jury was identified by the U.S. Marshals Service only by his seat number in the back row of the jury box--Seat 5.

All jurors’ identities are being kept secret. The foreman, a bearded man who appears to be in his 40s, apparently works in the real estate business, according to answers he gave during jury selection.

Defense attorneys did not ask Juror 5 any questions during the selection process, indicating that they immediately regarded him as acceptable. In response to questions from prosecutor Clymer, the juror said he was not surprised by last year’s state court verdicts and added that the first time he saw the defendants on television, they looked scared.

Before commencing their deliberations Sunday, five jurors attended church services. Lawyers on both sides had expressed some concern that the jurors might hear references to the case during the Easter sermons. Many church leaders are calling for peace in the city after the verdicts are announced.

Clymer raised that concern in court Sunday, but Davies assured him that the Marshals Service had been monitoring church services attended by some jurors throughout the trial.

According to Davies, the marshal in charge of protecting the jurors contacted the ministers of the jurors’ churches early in the case and asked them to refrain from commenting on the trial.

“I am informed that the ministers have obliged,” Davies said.