officers - The Black Vault

FD'·350·(Rey. 5·8·81)
.. ·-
•
(Indicate
page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
·- .. Police Say
.
Tests
.....
Show Ktng Was
Legal~y .Drunk
\.
By RICHARD A. SERRANO
and HECTOR TOBAR
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Los A-ngeles police officials said
Thursday that blood ·~d urine
•· samples taken after the beating of
· Rodney G. King show he was
~ legally drunk and had traces of
~- marijuana in his system, adding yet
~· another twist to the controversial
case.
However, police officials empha­
. :sized ·that the test results stating
that King was intoxicated in no
f way warrant the violent force used
i
by officers in the March 3 incident.
"We're not saying this proves
Mr. King's state was such that his
behavior was something that
~ would justify what the officers
f. did," said Lt. Fred Nixon, one of
f the department's top spokesmen.
f "There is no level of alcohol that
;.,. would just:ify what happened to Mr.
King."
t· The test· results conflict with
r. earlier reports from physicians
~ who have examined King, both in
. the hours after the ·beating and in
· the days that followed. The police
~ tests show no other illegal drugs
.present in King's system,'and con­
:. tradict repeated statements from
· many officers at the scene and
,. their supervisors ·who said King
. was under the influence of PCP.
The beating, videotaped by an
. amateur cameraman, has provoked
.a growing outcry and become a
. national symbol of police brutality.
Four Los Angeles police officers
. have been indicted in the incident.
On Thursday, President Bush
made his first lengthy comments
. on the beating. The President said
watching the tape "made me sick,"
but he also had words of support ·
for Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl
F. Gates, who has resisted calls to
resign.
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Date: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Edition: FRI, MAR 22, 1991
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 1
Title:
IC~~ter:.
or
Classification:
POLICE SAY TESTS SHOW
KING WAS LEGALLY DRUNK
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
lnde • ·
SEARCHED
SERIAUZED
"In -many ways he has been an exemplary police
chief," Bush said in Washington. "I think the man's
entitled to· a credible hearing." · ·
Gov. Pete Wilson echoed Bush's remarks condemning
the violence he saw on the videotape but voicing
support for Gates.
"I think there are people who are seeking. to make
him a ·scapegoat," Wilson said at a Los Angeles
appearance. "I don't think the chief should resign, nor
should people ask for his resignation, until a case can
be made that there has been dereliction on his part."
~~ ~ates was receiving support from high-level
politicians, he revealed Thursday morning in a
nationally televised interview that he and his family
have been the targets of repeated death threats. While
refusing to discuss the nature of the threats police
officials said they have increased security for both the
chief and the members of the Police Commission .
In a speech Thursday evening to the Los Angeles
· chapter of the Public Relations Society of America at
the Vall.ey Hilton, Gates reiterated that he has no
intention of resigning or retiring. But he did say that
.once he· had seen the department- through this crisis
he might consider retiring.
'
"I'm going to remain," he said. "I'm going to see this
through." '. ·
Gates added that once public confidence has been
restored in· the department, "then I will be satisfied
and go ahead and retire and enjoy the fruits of 42 years
oflabor." _ · ·
The results oiblood and urine tests, taken from King
about five hours after the his arrest, were l'eleased by
police late Wednesday at the request of reporters
Nixon said. · '
The tests showed that King's blood-alcohol level
was 0.079%, slightly below the legal limit of 0.08% at
which one is considered intoxicated under California
law. However, Nixon pointed out that because the
tests were taken five hours after his arrest King was
above the legal limit at the moment of his ~est.
"He was well above the lev.el at which one can
legally be presumed under the influence " Nixon said
adding that the tests were performed by~ state-certi~
fied independent laboratory. .
MAR 2 7 1991
FBI- lOS ANGELES
INDEXED
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