officers - The Black Vault

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----~(M~o~u~nt~C~Ii~pp~in~g~i:.:_n~S!::pa:::c::_e__:::B::::e:::low:.:.!....)----------~ .....------- Date:
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Edition: TUES • MAR 12 , 1991
METRO SECTION, PAGE 1
'Beating Case
. Considered
byGrandJury
• Police: The county panel
·watches the videotape. At least
three witnesses testify, including
a Highway Patrol officer
involved in the pu~suit.
By TRACY WOOD
.and SHERYL STOLBERG
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
With a crush of reporters and TV
cameras gathered outside closed doors, the
Los Angeles County grand jury Monday
began hearing testimony about the controversial
police beating of an Altadena man.
The 23-member citizens panel, which
. may hand down indictments by the end of
this week, heard testimony for about two
hours Monday afternoon. There were at
.. least three witnesses: George Holliday, the
amateur photographer who videotaped the
beating; Josie Morales, -a neighbor who
witnessed it, and Melanie Singer, a California
Highway Patrol officer who was
involved in the original pursuit of motorist
Rodney G. King early ¥arch 3.
Holliday-who like the others was ushered
through a ·rear door to avoid reporters-said
he also saw a second offi.cer
waiting to testify. Holliday said he was the
first to give his account. He said ·his
testimony included answering questions
from a prosecutor and grand jury members -
and lasted about 30 minutes.
"It was real quick," he said.
According to authorities, King was
pulled over after a chase that reached in
excess of 100 m.p.h. on the Foothill Free­
·way. Los Angeles police became involved
after King drove his car onto surface
streets. Authorities have said that at that
point, King was driving up to 80 m.p.h. and
running red lights.
_
Law enforcement officials who have
heard police radio communications of the
chase said King was traveling at a· top
speed of 65 m.p.h on the surface streets and
that he stopped at least once at either a red
' light or a stop sign.:..
During the next few days, prosecutors
from the district attorney's
office will attempt to reconstruct
the pursuit and beating, in which
King was struck between' 53 and 56
times with the officers' batons. The
incident has brought national notoriety
to the Police Department, as
well as calls for Chief Daryl F.
Gates to resign. ·
Gates has recommended prosecution
of three of 15 officers who
were at the scene when King was
beaten. District att.prney's officials,
saying they believed that more
officers could be charged, decided
to present the c;ccie to the _grand
-· jury instead.
By law, the grand jury conducts
its business in secret, and the
prosecutor running the proceedings,
Deputy Dist. AttY.. Terry
White, declined comment Monday.
·'·
Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay
said last week that the panelists
would likely begin their work
by viewing the videotape of the
beating. At 8:1~ a.rn. Monday, a -.
television and videocassette re- .
corder were wheeled into the ·
meeting room on the 13th floor of
the Los Angeles Criminal Courts
Building. Holliday said the tape
was aired during his testimony in
the afternoon.
Sources familiar with the proceedings
say that prosecutors ex­
_pect to call fewer than 20 witnesses,
and that King will not be among
them. According to one source,
prosecutors are not eager to have
King testify because he might
provide contradictory -statements
that could damage the case when it
goes to trial. ·
King's lawyer, Robert Rentzer,
said he received a letter from
prosecutors telling him that King
would be excused from testimony
because of his medical condition.
King suffered a variety of injuries
as a result o{ the beating after
he was stopped by police in Lake
litle:BEATING CASE CONSIDERED
BY GRAND JURY
CharaCter:
I
or
CIVIL RIGHTS
Submitting Classification:
Office:
8 0-3 3 B
IDS ANGELES
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MAR 2 0 1991
FBI - LOS ANGELES ~
. IJIWJ.
View Terrace in the San Fernando
Valley. The· 25-year-old unemployed
construction worker, who is
on parole after serving a one-year
. prison sentence for robbery, was
stunned with a dart from an electric
Taser gun before being kickeli
and hit repeatedly.
King's doctor has said preliminary
tests show he may have
sustained permanent brain damage
from repeated blows to the head
and that he is suffering from confusion
and memory lapse. In addition,
Dr. Edmund Chein said the
bopes in King's ·right eye socket
were fractured beyond repair.
APolice Department investigation
into the incident showed
that three officers participated in
the beating while 12 more-including
a "Sergeant-watched and
did nothing.
Law enforcement officials, in­
. eluding prosecutors and police,
have .already said tbat the officers
whQ participated in the beating
could face charges of assault with a
->deadly weapon, or assault '!under
color of authority."
It is not clear whether prosecutors
will be able to seek indictments
against the officers who
watched. Sources involved in the
grand jury proceedings said those
officers may have committed federal
civil rights violations. King is
black; the officers are :white.
In related developments, the
American Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California-which has