LOS ANGELES : Judge to Review Order That King Pay School District

A federal judge agreed Monday to reconsider his order that Rodney G. King pay nearly $238,000 in legal fees to the Los Angeles Unified School District, which was ultimately dropped from the civil lawsuit stemming from his beating by Los Angeles police.

On Aug. 11, U.S. District Judge John G. Davies ordered King to pay $237,958 in legal fees for “frivolously” naming the school district--whose officers were involved in the pursuit that resulted in his arrest and beating by Los Angeles police--in his federal suit.

Davies agreed to reconsider the issue after King’s lawyer, Steve Lerman, argued that his client had been in the process of changing attorneys at the time the penalty was imposed. Lerman said he had just been rehired by King and failed to appear at the hearing because he was not aware of it.

Two school district police officers were at the scene when King was arrested March 3, 1991, in Lake View Terrace, but did not participate in the beating. Attorney Rickey Ivie, who represents the cash-strapped district, filed the motion to recover legal costs, arguing that the suit lacked merit. In April, a jury awarded King $3.8 million in damages from the city but decided that none of the four officers involved were required to pay punitive damages.