LOS ANGELES : King Trial Postponed After Attorney Is Hospitalized
U.S. District Judge John G. Davies postponed Rodney G. King’s lawsuit trial until Monday after an attorney for one of the defendants was rushed to a hospital after possibly suffering a minor stroke.
Attorney Greg Peterson, who represents former officer Theodore J. Briseno, was taken to an undisclosed hospital where he was undergoing tests for an apparent minor stroke, an associate said. Briseno was not in court at the time because of a death in his family.
Earlier in the day, Davies ruled that Sgt. Mark Conta, a Los Angeles Police Department use-of-force expert subpoenaed by King’s attorneys, must testify.
Conta is suffering from “situational depression,” according to a diagnosis by Debra Glaser, who heads psychiatric services for the Police Department. She told the court on Wednesday that if Conta is forced to testify, he could suffer a psychological breakdown.
The trial is in a second phase to determine if King should be awarded punitive damages from 15 current and former Los Angeles police officers. King already has been awarded $3.8 million in damages from the city in the March 3, 1991, beating.
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