officers - The Black Vault

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(Mount Ckpping In Space Below)
'Judge to hear
_motions in King
aw.cw.
trial
Df!ubl~jeopardy, officers' prior
misco_nduct among filings in
civil-rights case
·By Philipp Gollner
~qily News Staff Writer
~:~ .......
! A judge is set to begin ruling
I today on a flurry of legal motions
likefy'to shape the trial of four
LAPD officers charged with federal
civil-rights crimes in the
beating of Rodney King.
More than 60 filfngs submitted
in the last six weeks await U.S.
District Judge John G. Davies
when he takes the bench this
morning. Attorneys said they expect
the hearing to take all day
and possibly longer.
The papers provide the broad
outlines of what is expected to be·
one of the most widely followed
trials in recent history. The acquittals
of the officers on state
charges in Simi Valley sparked
the worst domestic urban unrest
this.century.
Los Angeles Police Department
Sgt. Stacey Koon, Officers
Laurence Powell and Theodore
Briseno and ex-Officer Timothy
Wind are scheduled to stand trial
Feb. 2 on charges that carry up to
10 years in prison and $500,000
in fines.
Davies will be asked to determine
whether the federal case
violates the Constitution's guarantee
against double jeopardy;
KOON
POWELL
whether the government may introduce
evidence of prior misconduct
against the officers; and
whether the officers should be
tried separately because of divergent
defenses.
Davies also must decide if
jurors should be sequestered during
trial and whether the defense
may seek testimony of expert witnesses
on police procedures.
Briseno's lawyer, Harland W.
Braun, said the double jeopardy
dispute should be at the top of
Davies' agenda.
"The average person would say
this is double jeopardy. I think
it's double jeopardy," Braun said.
"In the absence of a showing of
fraud or a scam (in the Simi Val­
Icy trial), there is no interest in
prosecuting federally," he said.
BRISENO
••
(Indicate~. rt.lrM of
M~, city endi1DI.)
DAILY NEWS
SAN FERNANDO, CA
~: THURS., 11-12-92
E~ SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
PG. 4
lllle:
JUDGE TO HEAR MOTIONS IN
KING TRIAL
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Another contentious matter
concerns the widening rift between
defense attorneys.
The judge is expected to hear
·arguments \vhether to hold a­
hearing on conflict-of-interest
and misconduct accusations by I
Briseno against Powell's lawyer,
Michael P. Stone. ·
Braun said none of the other
matters can be resolved until Davies
determines if Stone, who represented
Powell in the state
case, may remain on the federal
case as well. .
In a scathing attack on Stone,
Briseno said in a sworn statement
last month that Stone should be
thrown off the case because he
knowingly put on perjured testimony
during the state trial in an
effort to discredit~~A ·-!JHI ~q. 'biJ- b.-~~
f'II/DOJ