Verdicts Expected in King Case Today --Police on Alert : Trial: Jurors, after deliberating seven days, could make announcement this morning. It is unclear if decisions have been reached on each of the four defendants.

After seven days of deliberating in near silence, jurors in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial appear to have reached verdicts and are expected to announce them this morning, according to law enforcement officials.

“They certainly are giving us plenty of notice to get prepared,” said Los Angeles Police Commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum, whose agency was among those alerted late Friday about the impending announcement. “Doing it early in the morning will help.”

It was unclear whether jurors had reached verdicts in the cases of each of the four defendants. If the jurors were deadlocked over any of the defendants, U.S. District Judge John G. Davies could order them to deliberate further.

The federal trial of Stacey C. Koon, Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J. Briseno has unfolded in a city unnerved by the prospect of a recurrence of last year’s civil unrest, and the prospect of verdicts jolted law enforcement agencies into high gear. Days of rioting erupted when a state court jury found the same defendants not guilty last year. Law enforcement agencies across Southern California have vowed to respond swiftly to any signs of trouble at the conclusion of the federal trial.

Just as the jury wrapped up for the day Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department went on tactical alert. A Sheriff’s Department spokesman said “at the direction of the sheriff, the department is mobilizing as of (6 a.m.) tomorrow morning.” The spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny that verdicts would be announced.

At Police Department headquarters, a spokesman also declined to discuss the reason for the increased police readiness. “We’re confirming that there is a citywide tactical alert, but we’re not making any comment about it,” said Sgt. Bill Frio.

Lawyers for the officers also declined to comment about whether they had been informed of possible verdicts. U.S. Atty. Terree A. Bowers said the government would have no comment either.

As the jury deliberated in seclusion Friday, Davies met with representatives of the media to lay out plans for announcing the much-awaited verdicts. The meeting occurred in the early afternoon, and Davies said he had no inkling of how far along the jury deliberations were.

But he told reporters that he would allow the voice of his clerk reading the verdicts to be broadcast live, a dramatic break from federal practice in criminal proceedings.

“This is my slight gesture,” Davies told a pool of reporters. “I know you have a tough job.”

Davies added that “it seems petty” to deny the press and public the right to hear the verdicts announced live. A brief frenzy erupted earlier this week when Judge Davies summoned lawyers to his courtroom. He said that hubbub caused him to think about how the announcement of verdicts could best be handled.

In that instance, Davies summoned lawyers to his courtroom for an “announcement,” but did not specify the subject. When journalists learned that a court session had been convened, hundreds descended on the courthouse and some news stations sent up helicopters, thinking that verdicts might be forthcoming. The announcement turned out to be that one of the jurors had taken ill and needed to see a doctor.

Jurors in the case have been sequestered for seven weeks. It has been days since they have given any hint of how their deliberations are progressing. Already the deliberations have exceeded the time that a state jury took last year to return not guilty verdicts against the same four defendants.

While residents braced for the verdicts, the defendants and their lawyers were locked in a grueling waiting game as well. Friday, they paced the halls of the courthouse hour after hour.

“We arrive here every morning optimistic that today might be the day,” said Michael P. Stone, the lawyer for Powell. “Then, as the day wears on, you get to a point where you think: It can’t happen today.”

Stone and Powell were forced to make a morning appearance in state court, where one charge against Powell remains unresolved from last year’s state trial. Although that charge will not be dismissed until the federal jury returns verdicts, Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg did release Powell’s $30,000 bond, which had been secured by his father’s house.

“At least we got the house back,” Stone said later.

With the deliberations dragging on, lawyers used some of the extra time to solidify their plans for getting themselves and their clients to safety once the verdicts are announced.

Although they declined to comment on the plans in detail, lawyers for several of the officers said they had met with federal officials and had developed various scenarios for leaving the building if the defendants are acquitted and there appears to be a threat of violence.

One defense lawyer, Harland W. Braun, said months ago that a plan existed to fly the defendants off the top of the courthouse in a helicopter, but representatives of the U.S. Marshals Service will not confirm or deny that account.

Tensions are extremely high over the case, and several of the attorneys already have received death threats--some of which have been shared with the judge. This week, Ira Salzman, the lawyer who represents Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, called in an armed guard to escort his assistant from his legal office after receiving threats there.

Salzman said the threats were disconcerting, but he credited federal officials with handling the security issues competently.

“I believe that the officials are being totally responsible when it comes to handling these security arrangements,” Salzman said. “I’m confident in their plans.”

As the attorneys and their clients marked time inside the courthouse on Friday, a slew of demonstrators, civic leaders and public officials made their way to the bank of television cameras set up outside the building. Electronic media representatives from around the world are encamped in the Roybal building plaza, biding their time while the jury deliberates.

That scene was disrupted Friday afternoon when a group of white supremacists traded harsh words with some members of the crowd.

Officials said the face-off began when the four men left the federal building, where they had tried unsuccessfully to get a permit to demonstrate. Carrying a banner with letters “KKK,” they drew a crowd of reporters to the outdoor rotunda. At the urging of federal officials, reporters quickly moved the impromptu news conference to the sidewalk on Aliso Street.

Within moments, the commotion attracted a small gathering of onlookers, some of whom shouted taunts. Fearing violence, the Federal Protective Service that patrols the courthouse grounds asked the LAPD to intervene.

Before any blows could be thrown, police officers in riot gear quickly escorted the four men away.

Earlier in the day, a Latino merchants group criticized officials for fueling public uneasiness with the high-profile security measures that are going in around the city.

“It has created a sense of impending doom,” said Jorge R. Mancillas, a representative of the group. “These publicity campaigns of police preparations have fueled the fears.”

Later, Los Angeles-area Latino lawmakers came to the courthouse in a rare show of unity to urge restraint once the verdicts are announced.

The leaders also declared that they had received assurances that U.S. immigration authorities did not have definite plans to conduct post-verdict neighborhood sweeps and that Los Angeles police would abide by regulations limiting cooperation with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

“We don’t want to have the same kind of disturbances we had a year ago,” said county Supervisor Gloria Molina. “There is a tremendous amount of fear out there in our community.”

Added City Councilman Richard Alatorre: “We are going to work together to make sure the government does the right thing.”

The appearance of the two together on the same podium underscored the message of a united force that the often-fractured Latino leadership sought to deliver. Some have criticized Latino lawmakers for not taking the collaborative step sooner.

“We are not divided,” said State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles).

The elected leaders--mostly of Mexican ancestry, but generally U.S.-born or longtime residents--pointedly sought to reach out to the new Latino immigrant communities, which include many recent arrivals from Central America and Mexico. Last year’s civil unrest largely spared middle-class Mexican-American neighborhoods but cut a swath through poor immigrant enclaves, notably the Pico-Union/Westlake areas and South-Central Los Angeles.

“Our goal today is to stress that Latinos are coming together,” said City Councilman Mike Hernandez, whose 1st District includes large populations of new immigrants. “We are building--not destroying--together.”

On another issue of major concern, Hernandez said he had been assured by Police Chief Willie L. Williams that police would following regulations prohibiting officers from stopping people solely because of immigration status, or from turning detainees over to immigration authorities. Police turned hundreds of Latino prisoners over to the INS during last year’s disturbances, enraging community activists. The INS sent more than 1,000 detainees back to Mexico and Central America.

“This time around we’ve got a new police chief,” Hernandez said. “And I have assurance from him that the police will not be using that tactic.”

Times staff writers Eric Malnic, Patrick J. McDonnell, Victor Merina and Amy Wallace contributed to this report.

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