officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
• (Indicate
page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
age A8, Press Telegram
Beach, California
1 three
4 L.A. officers plea~
Judge says trial in late Aprn likely
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Four white
policemen pleaded innocent
Tuesday to charges stemming
from.tqe videotaped be~ting.of a
black motorist after their attor·
neys failed to .have a grand jury
indictment tossed out.
In soft voices, a sergeant and
of his officers answered
"not g'uilty." They face p~nalties
qf four years to nearly eight
x~ars in prison if convicted.
Sgt. Stacey Koon, 40, and Offi• I
cers Laurence Powell, 28, Timo- 1
thy Wind, 30, and Theodore Bri- '
seno, 38, are charged with
as~a1,1lt w~tl!. .~ deadly weapo:p.
and. unnecessarily be~tin~ a suspect
under color of authonty.
Koon and Powell are a:lso
charged with filing a false police
report, and Koon is accused of
being an accessory in a cover-up:
· hi the case that prompted
national outrage, motorist Rod· '
Title:4 L.A. officers plead
not guilty in King beating
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
Long Beach
APR 2 1991
:not guilty in King Jl~ating
ney .King is seen in a vide.o being
beaten 56 tjmes with batons,
kicked and shot with a Taser
electric st1:1n gun during I'! nighttime
traffic stop March 3 in Lake
View Terrace. Doctors say King
may suffer permanent damage
from 11 skull fractures.
Th~ vide'Ota,pe was made by a
neighborhood resident, George
Holliday, from his balcony.
During. the Superior Court
; arraignment, lawyers for the
· four charged policemen lost bids
to have the indictment declared
, insufficient on grounds the
charges were vague. They also
failed to show the men were entitled
to preliminary hearings.
A:ll four were ordered to be in
court Thursday. Judge Gary
Klausner said a trial could probably
begin the week of April28.
California Highway Patrol
Commissioner Maury Hanntgaq'
and three executive assistants
will review results of its own
probe into the case, said CHP'
spokesman Sam Haynes. The
findings and recommendations
will b.e given to the District
Attorney's Office, the state
bep~rtment of Personnel and the \
Governor's 'Office.
I
The investigation reviews the
.actions of Highway Patrol Officers
Tim and Mel;ihie Singer,
who were among 21 police officers
present when the attack
occurred'. . . .
Meanwhile, FBI agents see~ing
to question about 250 officers
at the station where the indicted
officers were assigned called off I
interviews With about two dozen
officet;s. when investigators were :
told they would not voluntarilJ
cooperate, a lawyer said. ·
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