Probe Finds Briseno Likely Lied Under Oath : Courts: Ventura County prosecutors rule out perjury charges because testimony did not affect outcome of trial in King beating.

Former Los Angeles Police Officer Theodore Briseno probably lied under oath during a 1992 Simi Valley trial concerning the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney G. King, Ventura County prosecutors said Monday, releasing the findings of a little-known 10-month investigation.

But perjury charges will not be filed against Briseno because his testimony did not affect the outcome of the trial of Briseno and three fellow officers, they said.

Three of the officers were acquitted of all charges, and the fourth was cleared on all but one--verdicts that sparked rioting in Los Angeles.

At the request of LAPD officials, Ventura County prosecutors reviewed the Simi Valley testimony of the 41-year-old former officer to determine if he had committed perjury.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald C. Janes, who conducted the probe, concluded that Briseno apparently lied on April 3, 1992, when he told the Ventura County jury that he tried to report the King beating to superiors shortly after it occurred.

But prosecutors said they decided against charging Briseno with perjury after reviewing numerous court and administrative documents. For a statement to be considered perjury, it has to have the potential to influence the outcome of the case, Janes said.

“Although this evidence tends to indicate that Officer Briseno lied, proving this beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury would be exceedingly difficult,” Janes concluded in his 18-page report.

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Briseno’s attorney, Harland Braun, criticized the report, the Los Angeles Police Department and prosecutors in both counties. The LAPD first referred the matter to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, but Ventura County prosecutors conducted the review because Briseno’s testimony was given in Simi Valley.

“What they’ve basically done is use the Ventura County district attorney’s office to slander him,” Braun said of LAPD officials. “Can you imagine another trial now? Do you think they want another Rodney King trial up in Simi Valley?”

LAPD Detective James Miller, the internal affairs sergeant who presented the case to prosecutors, declined to comment, saying the issue is a confidential personnel matter.

Briseno was also acquitted in a federal trial of attacking King but was fired by the LAPD for excessive use of force. Some former colleagues criticized Briseno for saying that the officers were “out of control” during the 1991 beating. He acknowledged that he kicked King, who later won a $3.8-million civil award.

Briseno insisted his kick was designed to keep King on the ground so the motorist could be arrested.

His testimony was used in the federal civil rights trial that led to the convictions of former Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and former Officer Laurence M. Powell. The fourth officer, Timothy E. Wind, was fired two months after the King beating but later became a community service officer in Culver City.

Braun said that Ventura County prosecutors, by concluding that Briseno probably lied but declining to file charges against him, are appeasing police officers who believe that his client broke an unwritten “code of silence.” That term generally means that police officers will not testify against one another.

Briseno’s wrongful-termination lawsuit to regain his job is pending.

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In testimony that prompted the perjury investigation, Briseno insisted that he drove to a police station and tried to report the incident to a lieutenant. Unable to find the lieutenant on duty, Briseno testified that he let the matter go because Koon had filed a computer message that he was making the report.

Other officers on duty that night do not recall Briseno returning to the station, looking for the lieutenant or reading Koon’s message, Janes’ report said.

A probationary officer riding with Briseno that night told authorities that Briseno appeared to have headed directly to his next call after the beating, the report said.