officers - The Black Vault

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Wind was the only d~fendant not
to take the witness stan~ during the
state trial, although DePasquale
said he is expected to testify in the
federal trial.
: "As far as his not going out on
· the talk-show circuit, frankly that's
. a matter of intelligence. Only in the
most extreme of circumstances
I would I want to have my clients
talk about issues of guilt or innocence,"
DePasquale said.
"It would be a cold day in purga-
'[ "Ther~ a~e s~~-real dangers -to ti~ns-0-~ NBC~ "Todai~ ~ho;,l
.. doing this," she said. "Every t~me a "Larry King Live," local radio sta-
1 defendant makes a statement, 1t has . tion KFI-AM and local newspapers
! the potential of being used against ·and television news programs, 1
them, whether or not they testify. It Braun said. .
: gives the prosecution a preview of He also took on a· sometimes hos-
\ what the defendant is going to tile audience on KJLH, a radio sta .. ,
1 say." tion that primarily serves the city'~
' Indeed, the fact that prosecutors African-American communities.
: have not asked for a gag order in "We got an insight into how peo-
1 the case can be seen as a sign they ple are thinking about the case,'~
all ears when it comes to the of- Braun said. "More people in the
\ fleers' public statements, Levenson black community have a more
said. open mind than I thought" abouf ;
: But the government has cited the the King beating.
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! intense pretrial news coverage in its Powell, too, has made numerous I
· request for an anonymous jury, media appearances.
I which it wants sequestered during It was his lawyer, Stone, who J
. the trial and deliberations. held daily press briefings in the ear-
. "The media reports - which ly stages of the Simi Valley trial becould
reach an unsequestered jury fore the judge in the case asked at ..
- Q.ave included potentially preju- torneys to keep quiet.
·dicial statements by defense coun- Last month, Powell faced off,
: sel," prosecutors said in court fil- with rap-music star Sir Mix-A-Lo~ II
, ings. "Defense lawyers have been on KABC's "Ken and Barkley.
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: reported as saying that the White Company," defending his conduct
House pressured local prosecutors on the night of the beating and call~
to indict th~ case." . ing the riots "nothing but a bunch:
. Braun s~1d the govern~ent can of criminals burning down the
hsten all 1t wants - Bnseno has buildings in their own neighbor•
nothing to hide. · hoods." '
W~at'.s more, Briseno needs t.o Along the way, the officers' I?UQ.,
tell h1s s1de.ofthe ~tory to keep h1s lie appearances have produce~ i
peace of mmd du1;1ng the legal or- some surprises, such as when Bn; I
deal, the lawyer sa1d. · seno's ex-wife called him live on, 1
· "I think it's just healthy p~ych~- KJ~H a!l.d a.ccus~d him of falling 1
logically for Ted to answer hts cnt- behmd m hts chtld-support pay- 1
·ics," Braun said. "Every time you ments. 1
talk and articulate and have to an- The episode was shown on the I
swer questions, it's healthy." ··tabloid television program "In.side I
. Of the four Briseno- who testi- Edition," which recently broadcast~
fied in Simi Valley that he thought an: i.nterview with the wife. Braun ]
his fellow officers were out of con- demed her charges. . · I
tory before you decide to put a
book out on the circumstances" ·of trol- has been among the most "Maybe it's self-defeatmg," I
the beating.
-outspoken about the case. · Braun said of the publicity. "Bul[
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I, Levenson agreed that trying the Since the indictments were hand- maybe it means we Will be able to
ed up Aug. 4, he has fielded ques- get a fair trial. I hope so.''. __ :
~- in~h~ ~ress C_?uld b~c~fir~. -~ __
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