officers - The Black Vault

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"Frii350'1'R'.,. 6-8·8,)
•
U ~s. Files Civil
,Rights Charges
Against 4 Officers~
·~KingC~~
• Indictments: Federal
_Prosecutor says beating
__ 'was an unreasomible use
Qf force..' lf convicted, each ·
~man faces up to 10 years in'·
prison a~d fines.
By JIM NEWfON -
.and LESLIE BERGER
JIM~S. STAFF WRITERS;.
Federal prosecutors unsealed· a
two-count indictment against four~
Los Angeles pplice officers
Wednesday, reigniting the explo-' '
sive . legal battle over the 1991
beating of Rodney G. King with
new charges that the officers violated
King's civil rights.
The indictment was handed up
by a federal grand jury late Tuesday
but was sealed until Wednesday
morning so that prosecutors ·
could ·notify local authorities, said
Lourdes G. Baird, the U.S. attorney
for the Central District of California.
Charged in the indictment are
the s~me four officers-Sgt. Stacey
C. Koon and officers Timothy W.
Wind, Laurence M. Powell and
Theodore J. Briseno-who were
tried in state .court earlier this year
and acquitted on all but one count.
"The defendants are charged
with stomping, kicking and beating
Mr. King," Baird said during a
morning news conference called to
announce the indictments. "It was
an unreasonable use of force."
. :Baird's announcement cappecP~n ·
mtense federal , investigation;'
:'?"hich beg~n,immediately after. the
·beating but was suspended· when
.-the state ,filed charges again§t 'th~
i LAPD offi~ers. It was rebp~I}~d
. after the not guilty verdicts were
announced April 29· and rio~ing
erupted in Los Angeles. Powell
was the only officer not acquitted
.. on all charges, and he faces a1
:.retrial in state court.this fall ori the
one C