Rodney King Put on Road Crew for Probation Violation
Rodney G. King, whose videotaped beating and the resulting criminal trial led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, pleaded no contest Friday to violating probation and was sentenced to work 30 days on a Caltrans road crew.
The Caltrans sentence is an option defendants are given in lieu of jail time, said Deputy City Atty. Rosalind Russell.
The Caltrans sentence allows King to work an eight-hour day and return home, Russell said. With a jail sentence--however brief--he would be in custody around the clock.
King had been placed on three years’ probation in January 1994 for a misdemeanor drunk driving conviction.
The violation of probation charge against him grew out of his July conviction in Alhambra Municipal Court for leaving the scene of an accident, stemming from an incident with his estranged wife last year.
He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation, but he is appealing that conviction, said his attorney, Edi M.O. Fall.
A jury acquitted King in the Alhambra case of spousal abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving charges.
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