officers - The Black Vault

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· Most officials agreed and expressed conij.denc~ that
'ihe case cotild go forward despite.the m~mo's release.
:Meanwhile, sow.:ces say the Justice J;)ePartm~t's
!Public Integrity Section is investigating.:&everal theo­
·;es of how it fell1nto the hands of Michael P. Stone,
~ e lawyer for Officer Laurence M. Powell ..
' WJ;lile some sources suggest that ~e retease·J!lro'
:~ve been a mistake, most Justice De~ept~
~pear to .. ~.li~!_e_ it was intentional-a~~~
·-of,a mole inside .the prosecution te!Un qr 1 t:weri':~of ~ 1
:break-in at the U.S. attorneys office itl.:LoS·~tes. ::·:
· The possibility of .a 'break.:.in ·wa8~~~; lly:
U.S. Atty. Steven D. Clymer:,.On~.Of·:t}le lead
in the case,' during a cloSe(!~door ~o~
District Judge John G. Dllvtesn~,ccording to
~wosourceswhoaskedanonymity. · · · . · ...
Clymer and Terree A. Bowers, the U.S: attorney for
. ~e Central District of California, declined to conunen~
;Friday, as did others who attended th,e ~ession befozi
1 :Davi es. . ~· ·t·... · · ·':~·
'> OtherS close to the case w~ not in~Un¢dii?. at;eept
;"the bl'iiak-in theory, but. gav:e more credence to .the
)\iQea that a mole inside 'the Justice 'Pepartment,.may
•have mailed the document to Stone in order to ·help
~him prepare his client's defense. . · · .
·-~· .. It's no.secret that there is some sympathy for these
~.pfficers in law .enforcement cii-cles," said one Surce
~who asked not to be identified. "It's possible that there
~Js someone in the Justice Depart,ment wp.o wanted to
~help them." · · .
·· With his claims of a possible "con.spiracy" to acquit
,~the officers, Conyers appeared t? ·back thlit theory,
~uch a conspiracy would undernline f:be•integrity of
?·the entire criminal justice system as it relates to
African-Americans," Conyers said.
The officers accused in the beating of King, who is
black, were acquitted on all but one count during a
state trial last spring. The verdicts touched off the Los
~geles riots, and ~e federal case is being closely
· watched in part because of concerns that. acquittals
could spark more violence. ·
· After reports of the memo surfaced Friday in The
~3.'imes and on National Public Radio, anxiety ran high
in the prosecution camp, but there also were·signs the
incident has helped to deepen a rift on the cJ,efense side.
Lawyers for Officer Theodore J. Briseno ·~d Sgt.
r'Stacey C. Koon said they were disttirbed by reportS
that Stone had received the memo but returned it to
prosecutors before sharing it with the. other defend-
·ants or their .lawyers. · ·. . .. .
"I~~- ~?t cl_ear in my mind .~t he would 1have tQ