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Shocked by Tape of King Beating, Gates Testifies

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, testifying Thursday in Rodney G. King’s lawsuit against Gates and 14 other current and former officers, recalled his shock when he first saw the videotape of King’s beating.

Asked his opinion of King’s beating, he said, “We are not in business to beat people.”

Asked if he thought King deserved to be beaten, he said, “I don’t think anyone deserves a beating. Only that force which is reasonable and necessary should be used.”

Milton Grimes, one of King’s lawyers, suggested to Gates that if there had been a policeman’s report instead of the videotape of the beating, no officer would have been disciplined for it.

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Gates, who was continuing first-time testimony about the beating incident, did not answer but agreed that the report written by Officer Laurence M. Powell, which blamed King for the beating, would not have been sufficient grounds for punishing the policemen involved.

“If we had not been fortunate enough to have the videotape of the Rodney King beating, is it fair to say the officers would not have been disciplined?” asked attorney Milton Grimes.

Attorneys for Gates and the other defendants in King’s suit objected that the question called for speculation, and the judge barred an answer. Grimes asked if Gates agreed that Powell’s arrest report “did not accurately reflect the beating of Rodney King.” Again, the question was ruled objectionable.

Grimes then turned to Powell’s arrest report, reading his description of King charging at officers, kicking and swinging his arms, resisting arrest.

“Would you discipline your officers after reading a statement like that?” asked Grimes.

“No, just based on that report, no,” said Gates. “If I were a captain, it would cause me to look into that arrest.”

“And if all the other officers who stood by essentially supported that description, it would be a closed case?” asked Grimes.

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“I don’t know,” said Gates. “ I don’t see anything wrong with that arrest report. But the captain would seek additional information and medical reports would be very important.”

Jurors are trying to decide whether King should receive punitive damages from Gates and the other defendants. They already have awarded King $3.8 million from the city in compensatory damages for his videotaped beating by white officers.

Gates’ 43-year law enforcement career, including 14 years as chief, ended with his 1993 resignation following harsh criticism over the King case and the Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittals of four officers on state charges in the beating.

Powell and Sgt. Stacey C. Koon were convicted of violating King’s civil rights in a federal trial last year and are serving 30-month prison terms.

While reiterating his view that the beating was an “aberration,” Gates tempered his criticism of the officers involved by saying that they should not have been limited to using a baton to subdue King.

“I opposed the use of the baton,” he said. “In this country, that is so technically advanced, it’s amazing we couldn’t provide to an officer anything other than a Stone Age weapon--a club.”

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Known for his sarcasm and shoot-from-the-lip style, Gates appeared subdued and professional on the witness stand.

Confronted with one of his comments that blacks react differently to chokeholds than do “normal people,” Gates said he was not being racist but acknowledged: “That was probably an inelegant choice of words.”

Asked if he said casual drug users should be shot to death, he replied, “I said casual drug users ought to be shot--not to death. That was a bit of hyperbole.”

The former chief’s appearance followed 1 1/2 days of haggling by attorneys over which parts of a Christopher Commission report on racism, sexism and excessive force in the Police Department should be admitted as evidence against Gates.

The commission, a panel appointed after King’s beating, was headed by Warren Christopher, then a private attorney and now U.S. secretary of state.

U.S. District Judge John G. Davies ruled that some parts of the massive report can be used against Gates but that other portions do not meet court tests of reliability since they are based on hearsay.

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