Jury Foreman Says Video Was Crucial in Convictions : Trial: Sgt. Koon had a duty to stop the beating after King had surrendered, he says.

The foreman of the Rodney G. King jury said Monday night it was the videotape of King’s beating by Los Angeles police officers--not the beating victim’s testimony or other evidence--that was crucial in the panel’s decision to convict Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officer Laurence M. Powell of violating King’s civil rights.

“Rodney King had surrendered, and the beating continued, and that’s why Koon was convicted, in my mind,” the unidentified Southern California engineer, a man in his mid-40s, said during an interview on Channel 9’s “Inside Edition” show. “I think the sergeant had a duty to stop the beating at that time.”

Asked why Powell was convicted, the juror said:

“Rodney King was laying on his back. . . . He was not moving. And Powell came up and hit him as hard as he could, right in the chest. Rodney King, in my mind, was not a threat.”

The decision to convict Koon and Powell and acquit two others, Officer Theodore J. Briseno and former Officer Timothy E. Wind, “was not easy, (but) we did the right job,” the foreman said. “I’m convinced of it.

“I’m going to think about it forever, but I’m sure it’s right.”