Benefit for Laurence Powell Scheduled at Police Academy

More than four years after the beating of Rodney G. King, supporters of former Los Angeles Police Officer Laurence M. Powell have scheduled a benefit to raise money for his continuing legal expenses with the help of a conservative group whose past beneficiaries have included former Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North.

The reception and dinner, planned Tuesday at a private club at the Los Angeles Police Academy, is being organized by the Officer Laurence Powell Emergency Assistance Fund and the Legal Affairs Council, a Virginia-based group that previously raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for North’s defense.

Like North, who was convicted by a federal jury for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, federally convicted Powell believes that he has been betrayed by the system he once supported, say former colleagues and his father, who characterize him as a “political prisoner.”

“Larry is an idealist. He believed desperately in the American way and the justice system,” said his father, Ed Powell, a retired county marshal who lives in Valencia. “The hard part now is that he has been betrayed in all the things he believed in.”

Supporters said they hope that the benefit will help pay for Powell’s ongoing appeals, make a dent in his more than $150,000 in unpaid legal bills and raise public awareness of efforts by federal officials to extend his prison term.

Convicted in 1993 of violating King’s civil rights during the beating in Lake View Terrace, Powell is serving a 30-month sentence at the federal penitentiary in Boron, near Edwards Air Force Base.

Supporters and police officials also said there is nothing inappropriate about holding a benefit for Powell--a convicted felon--on Police Academy premises because it will be at a club operated by the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, a private nonprofit organization that claims 11,000 police officers as members.

Although the Academy Club itself is privately owned, it is on city-owned land and operates under a city-issued permit. But it is often rented out for occasions ranging from weddings to retirement parties, and a Powell fund-raiser does not seem out of the ordinary, said a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Commission, adding that commissioners declined to comment.

A spokesman for the Police Department also had no criticism of the location.

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Several conservative and pro-law enforcement figures are scheduled to speak, including former GOP Rep. William E. Dannemeyer and Ezola Foster, founder of Black Americans for Family Values. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich is tentatively scheduled to attend the dinner, whose organizers include John Stoos, a former lobbyist for gun owners.

“There are a lot of people who want to show legitimate support for the LAPD and Laurence Powell,” said Stoos, a West Coast representative for the Legal Affairs Council who was recently hired as chief of staff for newly elected Assemblyman Bob Margett (R-Arcadia).

More than 46,000 flyers advertising Tuesday’s fund-raiser have been mailed across the country, according to another council representative, Patricia Johnson of North Hollywood. So far, the council has raised several thousand dollars for Powell, and the group has also offered to match the first $2,000 in contributions raised at the fund-raiser.

“We thought it was outrageous that the federal government put him under double jeopardy and now it appears double sentencing,” Stoos said.

After being acquitted of excessive force charges against King in Superior Court, Powell and former Los Angeles Police Sgt. Stacey C. Koon were convicted of violating King’s civil rights in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles. Both were sentenced to prison by federal Judge John G. Davies, who cut their recommended terms from at least 70 months to 30 months.

A federal appeals court later ruled that Davies had improperly departed from sentencing guidelines and sent the case back to him for resentencing.

Powell and Koon’s defense attorneys sought a new hearing on the issue but their request was rejected. They have appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court, where the matter is pending.

In an interview Friday, Powell’s father said he hopes to use any money raised at the benefit to fund the ongoing appeals process. The goal is to raise at least $12,000.

Tickets to the event, expected to draw at least 250 guests, range from $25 for the reception to $50 to $500 for those interested in also attending the dinner.

Ed Powell said so far that his son’s defense fund has raised between $60,000 and $70,000, most of which has been spent. His son owes another $155,000 in fees to his defense attorney, Michael Stone, who is also scheduled to speak at the benefit reception.

The senior Powell has worked tirelessly to pay off the debt, even selling T-shirts, sweat shirts and bracelets. “For the last four years, basically all I have been doing is spending all my time working every possible angle to raise funds and get him released,” Ed Powell said.

He said he and other family members have visited his 32-year-old son on a weekly basis since he entered federal prison.

His life there is vividly described by his father in a flyer advertising the benefit in the LAPD police union newsletter, “The Thin Blue Line.”

Laurence Powell earns about 16 cents an hour cleaning toilets, peeling potatoes and scrubbing floors at the prison camp, according to the flyer, which openly pleads for financial support.

“I ask you--I beg you--not just as a father asking for help for his beloved son but as an officer with 30 years of law enforcement experience who is worried for the future of my profession.

“I have no other way to pay my son’s legal bills and speak out in defense of his good name, than you.”

In an interview, Ed Powell described his son as being depressed and in a state of limbo.

“He’s doing OK,” added Los Angeles Police Officer Thomas Marchetti, who said he frequently exchanges letters with Laurence Powell.

“But he’s still in a situation where he has to worry about threats of violence from other prisoners. There’s always that chance because he’s a police officer.”

Koon has taken a different approach to fund raising for legal fees and to support his wife and five children.

The publisher of Koon’s book, “Presumed Guilty, the Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair,” launched a mass appeal for donations through a direct-mail campaign last year when Koon entered federal prison.

So far, the campaign has raised more than $2 million, said Alfred Regnery, president Regnery Publishing Co.

By comparison, fund raising for Powell “has been a family project,” said Johnson, of the Legal Affairs Council.

“It has been very personal,” she said. “It hasn’t been very far-reaching and that’s why the Legal Affairs Council is getting involved.”