Officers Will Be Tried in Torrance

The two Inglewood police officers charged in the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy will be tried in Torrance, about nine miles from the scene of the incident, a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Although attorneys for neither side objected, the move angered community activists, who gathered outside the Inglewood courthouse to protest the transfer.

“It’s an outrage,” said civil rights lawyer Leo Terrell. “They have just moved this case to the Simi Valley of the South Bay,” referring to the city where the four LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney G. King were tried and acquitted.

Judge Rodney G. Forneret ordered the move after a defense attorney and a prosecutor each challenged judges assigned to preside over the court proceedings. The Torrance and Inglewood courthouses are both part of the Southwest District of the Los Angeles County Superior Court and draw jurors from a 20-mile radius around each courthouse, officials said.

“There is an overlap,” said Superior Court spokesman Kyle Christopherson. The jury pools are “slightly different,” he said.

Inglewood’s population is 46.4% black and 4.1% white, while Torrance is 52.4% white and 2.1% black, according to the 2000 census.

Joel S. Oiknine, a criminal defense attorney who practices in the South Bay, said the jury pool for the Torrance courthouse is traditionally more conservative, white and upper middle class than the pool for the Inglewood courthouse.

As a result, a Torrance jury may be more favorable to police officers, he said.

“As a defense attorney, I’d be very happy about the transfer,” Oiknine said. “If I were a prosecutor, I would be a bit disappointed.”

Defense lawyers did not request that the case be tried in Torrance, and are still considering whether to seek a change of venue to move the case out of Los Angeles County.

Forneret set Oct. 15 for trial and assigned the case to Judge Francis Hourigan, a Loyola Law School graduate and former prosecutor. Defense attorneys had objected to Judge John Meigs in Inglewood, and prosecutors challenged Andrew Kauffman as the judge in Torrance.

Because Meigs is the only judge who hears felony trials in Inglewood, the case was sent to Torrance, the other major courthouse in the district, Christopherson said. The pretrial maneuvering is typical of criminal cases.

Officer Jeremy J. Morse, who is white, is seen on the videotape slamming a handcuffed Donovan Jackson, who is black, onto a patrol car and punching him in the face. Morse was indicted by a grand jury for assault under the color of authority. Officer Bijan Darvish is charged with filing a false police report--for writing that his partner “assisted Jackson to his feet and had him stand facing the police vehicle.”

Morse, 24, and Darvish, 25, have pleaded not guilty and face three years in state prison if convicted. They are scheduled to return to the Torrance court Aug. 21.

The Inglewood Police Department has recommended that Morse be fired and Darvish be suspended for misconduct in the July 6 incident at an Inglewood gas station. The department has delayed imposing the discipline as a result of court challenges.

On Tuesday, protesters accused both prosecutors and defense attorneys of doing a disservice to the community, chanting, “No justice, no peace! No racist police!”

Speaking over the chants, Morse’s attorney, John Barnett, said it was that type of behavior that could prevent his client from receiving a fair trial in Los Angeles County.

“This is exactly the type of thing which prevents a fair trial, and what these people are doing is ensuring that a change of venue must be made,” he said over the shouts.

Ronald Brower, who represents Darvish, said, “My client is factually innocent, and I’m satisfied he can get a fair trial anywhere.”

District attorney’s office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the office would “vigorously oppose” a change of venue. “We believe this case should be tried in Los Angeles County.”