Powell Says He Came Close to Shooting King

One of the policemen sent to prison for beating Rodney G. King testified Monday that he acted correctly, adding that King was so out of control that he came close to shooting him.

Laurence M. Powell, who struck the most nightstick blows during the March 3, 1991, beating, was called as a hostile witness in King’s civil lawsuit. He testified after arriving from a prison in Northern California where he is serving a 30-month sentence.

Milton Grimes, King’s principal attorney, complained at one point that Powell, who seemed aggressive throughout his testimony, was making speeches rather than answering questions.

Last week, jurors awarded $3.8 million to King in compensatory damages for his injuries. The jurors are now considering punitive damages against Powell and 14 other defendants.

“You don’t think you did anything wrong that night?” Grimes asked Powell.

“I not only don’t think it. I know it,” Powell replied.

Grimes asked if Powell had come close to shooting King to death. Powell said he had come “very close.”

“If he got up and attacked me one more time, it was going to be a shooting situation,” Powell said. “I could not control him.”

King was beaten after a high-speed police chase when he refused to stop his car.

U.S. District Judge John G. Davies refused to intercede when Grimes accused Powell of using the witness stand to preach about his views on the incident.

But Davies did rule that a controversial message Powell sent the night of the beating was admissible. In the message, Powell referred to a dispute involving a black family as “right out of ‘Gorillas in the Mist,’ ” the movie about Dian Fossey’s work with apes.

Powell’s lawyer, Michael Stone, argued that the comment was irrelevant.

King testified earlier that he believes he was beaten because he is black. The four officers involved in the beating are white.

Grimes also asked Powell about a computer message he sent right after the beating in which he said, “Oops!” and added, “I haven’t beaten anyone this bad in a long time.”

“What does ‘oops’ mean to you, officer?” Grimes asked.

“Just an exclamation,” Powell said.

“For a mistake?”

“No,” Powell insisted. “What I was conveying was, ‘Here’s a quiet night and look what happened.’ ”

Powell and Police Sgt. Stacey C. Koon were each sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating King’s civil rights.

Powell, Koon and Officers Theodore J. Briseno and Timothy E. Wind were acquitted of state assault charges in 1992. The verdict set off three days of rioting in Los Angeles.

Punitive damages are aimed at punishing a wrongdoer and deterring such conduct in the future.