Trial on Settlement With King Begins : LAPD beating: His lawyer says he still suffers physically and mentally. Jurors must decide how much compensation is justified.

Three years after a crude black-and-white videotape brought him worldwide recognition, attorneys for Rodney G. King said he still suffers physical pain and public humiliation from his beating at the hands of the police.

Attorney Milton Grimes made the remarks during opening statements in King’s federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the four police officers who took part in the 1991 beating of King in Lake View Terrace.

“He has no private life,” Grimes told the 10-member jury shortly after it was impaneled to hear King’s multimillion-dollar lawsuit. Grimes said his client still suffers periodic headaches and dizziness from the police beating, along with the embarrassment of being the butt of jokes.

The attorney said that even when King attempted to appeal for calm after the acquittals of the four officers in the state trial sparked a riot, he was not taken seriously.

“When he said, ‘Can’t we get along,’ that was taken as a joke,” Grimes said.

During his remarks, Grimes relived the events of March 3, 1991. He swung a steel baton, picked up an electric stun gun and demonstrated kicks to an imaginary King on the ground.

Then he concluded by showing the videotape of the beating--the key piece of evidence in the state and federal trials. Even though all the jurors said they had seen it before, it held their attention.

King is seeking compensation from the city for the permanent injuries and mental anguish he suffered at the hands of the police. The city has admitted its responsibility for King’s injuries, but has left it to the jury to determine how much he should be paid.

Grimes said King has $200,000 in medical expenses and is unable to work in a construction job.

Assistant City Atty. Don Vincent said the city has a responsibility to pay King for his injuries. But, he said, King does not escape blame because he was driving with a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit.

“The city has decided to pay for the damages to make Rodney King a whole person,” he said. But he urged that King be compensated in a “fair way for the injuries he sustained.”

Some of the injuries, he said, “are long gone.”

After the opening statements, Grimes called two witnesses to describe what they heard the night of the beating. Dorothy Gibson, who lives near the site of King’s beating, testified that she heard someone say “Please stop” that night, as if he were in pain. Robert Hill, another resident, recalled hearing King groan and scream in pain.

U.S. District Judge John Davies has given King’s side three days to present its case, and the city will have two days.

After the jury decides the amount of King’s compensation, the trial will move to a second phase, in which the jury will determine if individual defendants should be required to pay punitive damages.

The lawsuit names as defendants the city, former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and 15 current and former police officers, including the defendants in the two previous King trials, Stacey C. Koon, Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J. Briseno. Koon and Powell were found guilty of civil rights violations last year and are serving 30-month sentences.

Negotiations to settle the lawsuit out of court have been unsuccessful.

City Council members could not reach an agreement to raise their offer to King, which previously stood at $1.25 million. City lawmakers said privately that Grimes’ latest offer differed little from what he had demanded months ago. They said he asked for $7.5 million, plus attorneys’ fees, compared to the $9.5 million demanded previously.

“When you add in the attorneys’ fees (to the latest offer), there would be little or no difference,” said one council member, who asked not to be identified.

Councilman Nate Holden said Wednesday that he attempted to persuade his colleagues to increase their offer substantially.

Holden said the city could end up paying a great deal more by putting the case in the hands of a jury. “The trial can be nothing more than divisive,” he said. “The members of the council should move to heal this city.”

Grimes said he has reduced his demand twice, but he refused to reveal the amount of his final offer to the city.