Powell Cited in Earlier Beating Case, Report Says

Police Officer Laurence M. Powell, sentenced Aug. 4 to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for the beating of Rodney G. King, was reprimanded by the Los Angeles Police Department for another beating that took place five months before the 1991 King incident, according to a published report Sunday.

The San Gabriel Valley Newspapers cited a confidential LAPD Internal Affairs report on an October, 1990, incident in which Powell purportedly struck a handcuffed man, Danny Ramos, six to 10 times with a flashlight after Ramos tried to kick officers while being arrested.

The newspapers said that internal affairs officers recommended delaying discipline against Powell until after the first trial in the King beating case, but by the time that trial was over, the statute of limitations had expired and the most severe punishment the department could impose was a severe reprimand.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams gave such a reprimand on July 16, 1992, for what he called “serious misconduct,” the newspapers said.

The LAPD on Sunday refused to comment on the report.

In November, federal prosecutors sought without success to enter into evidence in the second King trial an incident in which they said Powell had beaten an unnamed handcuffed suspect five months before the King beating. U.S. District Judge John G. Davies refused to allow the matter into evidence, calling it irrelevant.

It could not be ascertained Sunday whether the incident reported Sunday was the same as the one prosecutors referred to in November. The time frame was the same, as were some of the circumstances, but the prosecutors made no mention in November of any reprimand by Williams.

Sunday’s story quoted the LAPD Internal Affairs report as condemning Powell’s use of a flashlight in the Ramos beating and quoted the report as saying:

“Even more disturbing is the level of force utilized against Danny Ramos by Powell. Clearly, with viable alternatives, Powell’s best defense against Ramos’ kicking was to follow department procedure and simply retreat out of range.”

Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, also sentenced in the King beating case and Powell’s supervisor in that case, was also his supervisor at the time of the Ramos beating, the San Gabriel Newspapers reported.

The newspapers said the internal affairs investigation found that Koon had failed to question the appropriateness of Powell using a flashlight to hit Ramos.