LOS ANGELES : City Calls Witnesses to Rebut King’s Testimony

The city opened its defense in Rodney G. King’s multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit by calling witnesses to rebut King’s testimony about his troubled past and his version of events surrounding his beating by police three years ago.

Tai Suck Baik, who spoke through a Korean interpreter, testified that King threatened him with a tire iron during a Nov. 3, 1989, robbery at his Monterey Park market. King, who spent two years in prison after pleading guilty to the robbery, testified earlier that he had only thrown pies at the grocer and pleaded guilty because he could not afford a lawyer to fight the charge.

Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Troy disputed earlier testimony by King’s mother, Odessa King, who said her son told her that racial epithets were hurled at him during the beating he received from Los Angeles police. And David Denkins, a former sheriff’s deputy now with the Montebello Police Department, said he recalled King telling him that his beating was not racially motivated.

The city has conceded liability for the beating and the trial is being held to determine compensatory damages owed by the city and punitive damages that could be levied against individuals. The city tried to settle for $1.25 million; King’s lawyers wanted $9.5 million.