Lawyers’ Dispute Interrupts Gates’ King Testimony

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates took the stand briefly in Rodney G. King’s civil damage trial Tuesday, portraying himself as a model for his troops before his testimony was interrupted by a legal dispute.

King’s lawyers wanted to confront Gates with evidence of racism in the Police Department, as detailed in a report by the Christopher Commission.

Lawyers for the police officers being sued in the beating of King objected that the information was unrepresentative and unreliable.

U.S. District Judge John G. Davies, who initially said he found that the figures in the report “do not show a trend” of racism, sent jurors home while attorneys debated the issue. He ordered Gates to return Wednesday.

The former chief, a defendant in the suit, spent barely 20 minutes on the stand, during which he was asked to detail his 43-year career as a policeman including his 14 years as chief.

His exchanges with King’s lawyer, Milton Grimes, had a prickly tone from the outset.

Grimes asked if Gates had tried to “set the tone” for his department, and the former chief said that was part of his job. He said he tried to be an example for his officers.

Grimes asked if Gates ever rode along with his officers while he was chief.

“More often than any police chief in the history of the department,” Gates said.

“Does that mean in 150 years?” asked Grimes.

“In my opinion, yes,” said Gates. “ . . . Certainly in my time, 43 years.”

Asked by Grimes if he was involved in setting up the Christopher Commission, Gates said he was not. Gates said the real name of the body is the “Independent Commission.”

The commission was known by the name of one of its leaders, Warren Christopher, a private attorney at the time who is now President Clinton’s secretary of state.

“Didn’t you refer to it as the Christopher Commission in your book?” Grimes asked Gates, but the answer was interrupted by objections.

As Gates and Grimes fenced, the judge interrupted, asking Gates: “Did you refer to it as the Christopher Commission?”

“I think everyone has at some time. But we’re in court, and I thought you wanted to be as accurate as possible,” Gates said.

The Christopher Commission investigated the Police Department in the wake of King’s beating and concluded in its report that racism, sexism and use of excessive force existed in the department. It criticized Gates’ leadership and ultimately led to his downfall.

King’s lawyers told the judge outside the jury’s presence that they wanted to show that Gates is liable for damages to King because he should have known about misconduct in his department and should have stopped it.

Davies asked lawyers to present further legal briefs on the issue before Gates resumes the stand.

Meanwhile, jurors heard from a use-of-force expert, retired Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Kenneth Terry, who said that excessive force was used on King and that bystander officers at the scene should have intervened.

The jury already has awarded King $3.8 million in compensatory damages to be paid by the city. The panel is hearing more evidence to determine if 15 individuals, including Gates, should pay punitive damages.

King’s March 3, 1991, beating, videotaped by a nearby resident, led to criminal charges against four officers. Not-guilty verdicts in their state court trial set off three days of rioting in Los Angeles. In 1993, a federal jury convicted two of them, Laurence M. Powell and Stacey C. Koon, of violating King’s civil rights. Two others, Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J. Briseno, were acquitted but are defendants in the lawsuit.