officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
e.
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
:Grand j11ry begins
: po~~e._l;>.rut~lity
l .
By Dawn Webber
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
. Tht: Los Angeles County grand jury
has begun hearing evidence behind
t closed doo~ against as many as 15 Los
· ~ge!e: police ~fficers under investigation
m the beatmg of an unarmed mo- ·
·Iected by judges to sit for a one-year
· term - often are quicker because prosecutors
present their evidence without
: the scrutiny of defense attorneys.
. In addition, passage of Proposition
115 last June mandates that defendants
who are indicted do not have a right to a
. pre~iminary . h~aring and must go
. str~ght to _tr1al m Superior Court.
On Monr~ay, Sandi Gibbons a spokes-
• woman for J?istrict Attorney ira Reiner,
• ~efused to discuss the King case, saying
It had gone to the grand jury.
• . The ~viden~e presented to the panel
• IS certain to mclude a home videotape
·made by a Lake View Terrace resident
..
.i
••
·case
day th~t . they . have no doubt
the grand jury will return .an
in,dictment · : ·
· "They are going to the grand
jury because they need a very
quick indictment . . . to send
the ·message to ·the public ...
that the system really is responsive
-to the public needs,, said
Peter Arenella, professor of law
at University nf California, Los
Angeles. • r • •• • (
THE OUTLOOK
Date: TU
Edition: ES • MAR 12' 1991
Fro~t Section, Page 1
Title: GRAND JURY BEGINS POLI(
BRUTALITY CASE
Character:
or
Classlfteation:
Submitting Office:
lOS ANGELES
CIVIL RIGHTS
80-33B
lndexino:
·~SEM~C~Hro~------IN-D~~~EO------,
SERIAUZEO FILED·----1
MAR 1 & 1991
FBI - LOS ANGELES I.
ll/f'J
"Becatise of tlie public pressure
involved, they want to pia~
cate the public, and the prosecution
can do it quick and
dirty"' before· 'the grand jury,
which·"is "'its "rubber-stamp"
Arenella ·said. ~ · <
'
· Buf. &uho~a'·R.ipston, executive
.. director of the American
9ivil -Uberties· Union of South­
~r4 · Chlifornia, which is one of
the -groups" leading the call for
a.ction iJ;l t}}e J{ing case, questioned
how ~iner could restore
public confidence by opting for
a procedure that takes place behind
.closed doors. .
"He may be mterested in re-
.storing publiC' confidence," Rip-
torist. -~-----------------~---
' Prosecutors announced last week that
~f the King arrest. The tape
: they -.yould se:k an indictment against .&bows several officers beating
$ those mvolved m the March .3 beating of J{ing with their batons and ston said, "but I·think there are
Ro