officers - The Black Vault

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After selecting the forewom- On Saturday morning, the jury .Near the end of tii.e debate, i.oya
an-a 65-year-old Camarillo worn- e~barked.on its most difficult task: and another juror, both of whom
an w:ho manages government con- dissecting the evidence against had been arguing that Powell was
tracts for a living-the panel began Powell. The '29-year.:old officer, a guilty, chans,ed their minds. The
by discussing the case against Bri-. 3th-year veteran of the Police last holdout was the male juror,
seno and Wind. According to the Department, was accused of in- who said he cried as he cast his not
I'nale juror, there was a consensus. ·flicting the· most baton strikes on guilty vote. With Powell acquitted
that those cases would be easier to King. On portions of the videotape, . of count one, the panel broke for
resolve.
he is shown delivering a torrent of lunch.
Briseno was charged with kick- blows to the King as King lay on .·: When they returned to the
ing King once. During his testimo- the ground.
eourthouse, the jurors were too
ny, he argued that he tried to ·: The panel began by qmsidering drained to consider the second
prevent the beating by pulling the first count: assault with a ·count against Powell: assault under
back Powell's baton and by a,t- deadly· weapon, with force likely to ·color of authority. Instead they
tempting to subdue King by put- produce great bodily injury. Much discussed count three-whether
ting his foot on King's back-rath- of the discussion revolved around :Powell had filed a false·· police
er than kicking King, as- the whether King's head injuries were report-and quickly determined
'prosecution alleged. Watching· the sustained as a result of the baton that the errors on the report·were
videotape in slow motion, the jury ·strikes, as the prosecution alleged, "minor and insignificant."
tried to determine where Briseno's · or as a result of his fall to the Then the jury moved to Koon,
foot met King's body. Was it on the ground, as the defense asserted. · the sergeant who had twice stung
head, as the prosecution asserted? . , . King with his Taser stun gun.
On the neck? On the shoulder? Had Kmg s fact~l fr~ctures been Although he did not inflict any
~aused by the off1cers batons, the blows against King, Koon, the
"J t wasn't really clear enough JUry reasoned, they would ~ave supervising officer. faced the same
on the video to see," the juror had proof that the f?rce. v:as hkely charges as Powell, \vith the prosesaid.
"So we were trying to rely on to c~use great bodily .mJury. But 1 cution theorizing that if a crime
King's movement after the kick, to the JUry_ accepted the defense ar- had occurred, he was guilty of
try to determine where it was." gument mst_ead: aiding and abetting. By the end of
He said the jury decided. that After rev~ewmg the tape repeat- the day Sunday, the jurors agreed
there was a "reasonable explana- edly, the JUrors could nq~ t~~l that unless they convicted Powell,
lion" for what Briseno did. And whether Powell_ had st~uck Kmg m . they could not convict Koon.
that meant reasonable doubt that the hea~-;-desptte ~estn:nony from .
he was guilty. . CHP off~cer Melame S~nger, who on Monday, they returned to
Of the four officers, Wind re- told the JUrY. that sh_e d!? see head Powell to consider the second
ceived the least attention from the blows .. The JUror satd: There ar,e count. By then, the battle lines had
jury. A rookie officer on probation areas ~n. the f:ape whe~e Y?U. cant been drawn. It .was apparent that
who has been fired from the force, see. Its JUSt too ~ 1 Ufl'Y and lt J~mps · on this count, the jury would be
Wind was the only defendant not around a lot. 1 dt~?- 1 see any dtrect · hung. Nonetheless, the panel
to testify in his own behalf. The shots to the head. . calmly embarked on a painstaking
jury believed Wind used "proper The debate . contmued all day review of the videotape.
form," the juror said, adding: "He Satur?ay a?d mto Sunda~, when Those who favored conviction
only seemed to go in there and· ~he dtsc~s~ton gr~w. ~olattle. 0 1!-e identified three key areas on the
deliver blows when King was try- JUror, s~ld]Uror VIrgima Loya, said tape that, they believed, provided
ing to rise. It looked like he was ~}lat Kmg deserved ~hat he go~; proof of excessive force. The ~ost
pretty much in control." That was a p~r chmce of words, damaging portion, according to the
Friday evening, the jury took Loya reto~~ed. No one deserv~s to male juror, showed Powell hitting
straw votes on Briseno and Wind. be beaten. Others_a~gued voctfer- King's legs while King "appears to
The votes were cast by secret ously th_at the offt~ers were rea- be rolling· on the ground, just
ballot. 'l'he decision was unani- sonably m fea~ of Kmg, a large man . trying to avoid the blows."
mous: not guilty for each officer. ~ho they beheved was u~der the All day long, they reviewed
But in case anyone wanted to mfluence of the dangerous drug these portions· and went around the
change his mind, the jury decided it PCP.
table, with each juror offering his
would not take its final vote until ·
deliberations were completed.