High Court Delays Hearing on King Case Sentences

The much-anticipated U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments Tuesday in the case of two police officers convicted of violating Rodney G. King’s civil rights were a casualty of the snowstorm that has gripped the northeastern United States since the weekend.

Although the Supreme Court has been virtually the only government institution in Washington to put in full workdays this week, William Kopeny, who was planning to present the argument for Officer Laurence M. Powell, was waylaid by the area’s closed airports.

Other lawyers involved in the case improvised to try to overcome air traffic shutdowns and the stranglehold on the region’s roads. Some were thwarted, but a few made it through, only to then turn around and head home after the court decided to delay the hearing.

Powell and his former supervisor, fired Los Angeles Police Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, were convicted of violating King’s civil rights during the infamous March 3, 1991, beating. Over the objections of prosecutors, U.S. District Judge John G. Davies departed from federal sentencing guidelines and sentenced each to a more lenient 30 months in federal custody.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted to uphold their convictions but said Davies erred on the sentencing and ordered him to impose terms within the guidelines--a ruling that could send both officers back to prison for another 40 months or longer. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider the officers’ appeals of their convictions but agreed to hear arguments on whether the appellate panel improperly reviewed Davies’ sentencing.

That hearing was set for Tuesday morning, but the justices agreed to delay it after hearing of Kopeny’s plight. Initially, the justices had hoped to delay the oral arguments by just a day, but with airports struggling to reopen, Kopeny still in transit and the rest of the government shut down, the court agreed to postpone the matter until Feb. 20.