officers - The Black Vault

Davi~ ~aid he d~tected no visible
signs that King had-used alco­
.hol or drugs. He said that King
spoke clearly and cooperated.
Dr. David D. Giannetto, who
treated King, told the grap.d jury
that King appeared mildly intoxicated.
"Basically he just said that
they, you know, 'Beat the hell out
of me ' actually, 'Beat the s- out
of me,' ' is what he to ld me, "
Giannetto said. "He said, 'I have
never been beaten like that.' He
-.didn't really give me any specifics
.,of the events.''
Giannetto said King denied
~having used drugs or alcohol but
. tests showed King had a blood­
,.alcohol content of .094. He said a
,drug test was negative. · ·
Other witnesses called before
the grand jury included. LAPD
officials who identified officers at
the scene of King's prrest and
.said some of them tried to cover
up details of the beating. .
Sgt. Robert L. Ontiveros of the
Foothill Division identified
Powell and Wind as the officers
who were shown hitting King in
the videotape. He identified Bri-
. seno as the officer who initially
stopped Powell from hitting King
but later kicked King himself.
Ontiveros testified that it was
· Koon's responsibility to "take
charge of the scene and direct the
· officers" and stop any use of excessive
force. ·
"He's more so in charge b~cause
he's also controlling the
• electricai charge to ·:t\'fr. ·King's
body," Ontiveros said.
Officer Johnny Amott, a Valley
Traffic Division watch- commander
who reviewed the arrest
-report on King, testified that th~
report - written by Powell -
'Said King had an a~tated demea-
. nor, spoke incoherently and_ had
extremely -rigid muscles V{he~ officers
confronted him. Detective
Taky Tzim~a5-.o~ ~e.-LAPD'~ I.ntemal
Affatrs DlVlSlon testified
thai Komi did not file a -report
·. on officer misconduct r$ted to
· the.inCident. · ' .
. · The gl-and jury transcript concludes
·with closmg ~rguments by
, Deputy District Attorney Teriy
••. White,- the prosecutor who pre­
: senfed·the case .. (Under ;gra~d
jury rules, p.o. defense is presented.)
.
"After viewing that tape •..
everyone ~n come to the same
conclusion that there was excess,­
ive force .used," White said. '
Officers crossed over the line
when Powell stepped in· and h,it
King with his baton, he said.. ·
White said officers are tramed
to hit a suspect in 'the chest or
knees, rather than the head,
where the blow could be l~thal.
"But (Powell) chose the first
blow to be a power stroke to the
man's head - an excessive use
afforce," he said. .
"Then Officer Powell took it
.upon himself, after the man is
down to strike him a number of
time;," White·said. ''It's also
· dear he's using ·power strokes in
this situation and the man i~
down." ..
White said Koon and· Briseno
recognized the force was 'becoming
excessive, noti11g that Koon
· told Powell, ''That's enough,"
· and Briseno reached out to pre­
.. vent Powell :from taking further
·swings. · · ··~· ' .
· "But (the beating) continues. It
continues ·not only with Officer
Powell but now'it's Officer Wind
.and l;ter Theodore Briseno,~··
White said. "Mr. King is not resisting
at all. Mr. King is trying to
get away from the blows, which
'he has a right to do."
· White told the grand jQ.ry that
despite Koon's initial statement,
"That's enough," the sergeant
•gave his unspoken approval as
''the beating continued.
•
. "He's moving ihe 'Taser wire
out of the way,. facilitating the
! beating, making .if easier," White
~-~id, poi11~ing to tP~ videotape of
· the incident. ".' · ' " "
~ · "(H.e's) backing out of the way,
.,giving th~m more room. He's
'.giving implied authority to those
· subo-rdinates to continue that
beating·because he's not stopping
·it," he-saiq. '
White 8aid Koon ·did not men­
~ tion any blows to King's head -
only "several facial cuts due to
··contact with asphalt of a minor
,·natun~."'' ·· · :·· ·
•· ~'He would leaye (the-truth) out
: ·because in his mind, he knows
tpat's excessive force," White
' said. "He conceals it." :
v White· s~id Koon falsely re~
, ported that King was booked· at
·Los Angeles County/USC Medical
Center - rather than tlie
dpwntown jail-because he was
t. under the influence of PCP.
;· "That wasn~t the reason he was
taken there. Re was taken there
for medical treatment for the
beating he had received," White
.-·,said. . ; . . .
Koon also did ·not report misco.n!iuct
by the -officers, ~bite
· srud. _
r · "Koon had an obligation to
, ·tum in tb.e report .on the miscon~
:· duct. He didn't do it," he said.
· "Sgt. J(oon intended that
Laurence Powell not be discov­
.· ,ered - that the excessive force
that he used not be discovered,"
White said. "He concealed it and
; he thought he had done a good
1 -job, but if it wasn't for that video,
we probably wouldn't be he~.' "
- . .
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