officers - The Black Vault

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FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST DEFENDANTS
Following are the federal charges facing the four defendants in the Rodney King beating case:
·------------------1 ------------------
Accused of acting under Accused of acting under
. Accused of acting u Accused of falling to pre·
· color of authority to vent an unlawful assault by color of authority to beat 1 color of authority to beat
King and deprive him of the officers under his com· King and deprive him of his I King and deprive him of hiS' 1
· civil rights.
man d. civil rights. · i civil rights.
Briseno is a 10-year LAPD Koon is a 15-year LAPD vet· Powell worked as a reserve
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Wind joined the LAPD in May
veteran who worked in the eran. Koon is married with officer for two years before 1990 and was considered a'
Foothill Division from 1984 five children. He is currently becoming a full-time officer in problitionary rookie at th~:.
until his suspension without suspended without pay.pend· June 1987. Unmarried, tim.e of the King beating. He-!:
pay after the King beating. ing an internal Board of Powell is currently suspend· was fired by then-Police'
He is married and has two Rights hearing.
ed without pay pending an in· Chief Daryl F. Gates. Wind is 11
children.
temal Board of Rights hear- married and has·one child.
ing.
Retta Kossow of Ojai and a juror
in the Superior Court case, called
the federal indictment appalling
and politically motivated, saying
. the case should have been closed
with their verdicts. '
"The jurors did what we felt was
right based on the judge's directions
and thought that was the end
of the process," Kossow said. "I
just don't think another trial is justified,
and I am totally appalled by
. this whole process."
The federal indictment was noteworthy
for what it left out as much
as for what it included, legal experts
said. Contrary to early speculation,
none of the officers -- who are all
white -- were accused of racism in
the beating of King, who is African­
American.
An anticipated conspiracy charge
also was not filed in the federal·
case.
"At this time, we do not have a
conspiracy charge, but as I said, the
investigation is continuing," Baird
said. "We want to move forward
expeditiously. We certainly don't
have a deadline.
Factors in decision
Legal experts speculate the decision
to leave racism out of the
criminal charges cases the government's
task because of the difficulty
of proving racist motivation beyond
a reasonable doubt -- the
standard required for a criminal
conviction. ·
Still, prosecutors may need to
show racism to prove the charge
that the officers intended to deprive
King of his civil rights, said
.Laurie Levenson, a former federal
prosecutor in Los Angeles who now
teaches at Loyola Law School.
"One important way of showing
intent is to show a motive, and in
this case the claim may be a racial
motive." Levenson said.
Levenson and other experts said
conspiracy is difficult to prove -­
especially in a case such as this
where events transpired quickly
with .little time for planning.
"The notion that these officers as
they were engaged in a high-speed
chase were somehow agreeing .. with
each other to beat King strain~ credulity,"
said UCLA Law School
Professor Peter Arenella.
· The federal grand jury has been
meeting in secret since shortly after
the riots, when President Bush publicly
denounced the verdicts al}d
called for a federal probe into the
beating.
Preceded by a high-speed chase
ending in Lake View Terrace on
. ·r
March 3, 1991, the beating was
captured on videotape -- a key
piece of evidence relied upon 'by:
prosecutors in the first trial.· rlt ·1
The grand jury has heard testi-:!
mony.from more than 80 Los An-.
geles police officers -- some wfio:,
stood by during the beating -