TRIAL STORY: THE "RODNEY KING" CASE: WHAT THE JURY SAW IN CALIFORNIA V. POWELL (TV)

Summary

One in this series of documentary films that present condensed and annotated versions of high-profile trials.

This episode examines the case brought against the police officers involved in the arrest and assault of Rodney King on March 3rd, 1991. The incident, caught on video tape, involves four white police officers arresting and beating King, an unarmed African-American man, causing riots and mass protests throughout Los Angeles. All four of the officers charged are tried together, including Laurence Powell, who is seen on the video tape striking King with a baton dozens of times. Powell is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, use of excessive force, and falsifying his police report. The other officers involved are Stacey Koon (who is alleged to have directed his other officers to attack King and attempted to conceal the crime) Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno. The video recording of the officers attacking King is the key piece of evidence employed by prosecutors. Deputy District Attorney Terry White introduces himself and offers the opening argument for the prosecution, describing a high-speed vehicle chase involving King and the four officers eventually culminating in King being pulled over. According to White, an unsuccessful attempt to restrain King led to Koon attempting to Taser King, again without success. He goes on to describe how the situation escalated quickly, resulting in the officers attacking King repeatedly with their batons.

White finishes making his statement, and Koon’s lawyer Darryl Mounger makes the opening argument for the defense. He attests that the officers believed King to be high on PCP based on his physical demeanor and appearance. He also argues that the officers were operating under the belief that King was attempting to attack them and that they acted in reasonable self-defense. Michael Stone, Powell’s lawyer, also makes a statement; Powell faces the most severe and difficult charges of the case. Stone argues that the officers attempted to “de-escalate” the situation as best as they could and only used violence when no other option proved to be successful. Wind’s lawyer, Paul DePasquale, cites Wind’s relative inexperience as a mitigating factor to the charges brought against him. He argues that the officers acted in accordance with Los Angeles Police Department standards and procedures. John Barnett, Briseno’s lawyer, deviates from the arguments of the other defense lawyers, arguing that Powell and the other officers are responsible and that Briseno was attempting to protect King from further harm.

The prosecution is called upon to present their witnesses for the court. Their first witness is George Holliday, the man who filmed the incident. He claims that he was awoken by the sounds of police sirens and decided to video-tape the encounter outside his window with his new handheld video camera. The full video tape is shown in court, including sections that are difficult to make out due to being shaky or out of focus. King’s friend Bryant Allen is called to the stand; he was a passenger in King’s car during the chase and witnessed much of the build-up to the assault. He did not witness the beating itself, as he was on the ground with his hands restrained at the time. During cross-examination Bryant says that he believes King may have been “in shock” and did not listen to him when he asked him to pull over. His testimony is used by the defense to imply that King was high on PCP. California highway patrolwoman Melanie Singer is called up to testify, as she initiated the chase with King and made the initial arrest before the LAPD officers took over. She testifies that King was being somewhat uncooperative and did not appear to be taking the arrest seriously. It is at this point that Koon and his men arrive, and when King continues not to listen he uses a Taser on him. In her opinion, the attack on King by the LAPD officers was unjustified. She demonstrates the type of baton attack used by Powell against King, and Stone cross-examines her, calling certain aspects of her testimony into question. Tim Singer, Melanie Singer’s husband and fellow highway patrolman, gets up to testify as well, recounting his reactions to Powell striking King.

With its witnesses established, the prosecution then turns to establishing the attitudes and psychology of the four charged officers. They call Carol Denise Edwards, a nurse who treated King’s injuries, to the stand. She testifies that she heard a conversation between Powell and King after the beating in which Powell apparently taunts King. The other nurse who treated King, Lawrence Davis, is also called up, corroborating Edwards’s statement. Another witness, Glenda Tosti of the LAPD Communications Department, reads messages that Powell sent to the station via his police car’s computer; the prosecution attempts to portray Powell as being aware that he had use unnecessary force and recognized that it was wrong to do so but did not care. An audio tape of Powell calling for an ambulance for King is played, and his audible laughter is used as evidence of inappropriate behavior. The prosecution also attempts to prove that Koon had a similar realization about the inappropriate use of force. The emergency room doctors who treated King, David Giannetto and Antonio Mancia, discuss the nature of the many injuries King sustained, but are unable to specifically link them to the baton attacks when cross-examined.

The prosecution passes its case without presenting a great deal of evidence against Wind or Bresino, and does not call King himself to the stand. Their justification is that King’s mental state was too impaired by the numerous blows to make any kind of clear argument. The defense begins its case, and the change of venue from Los Angeles County to Ventura County is discussed, including how it alters juror selection due to the vast differences in ethnic compositions between the two counties. Koon is called to the stand and says that he immediately took King to be an ex-convict upon seeing his physique. He states that he asked Singer to back off and holster her gun, believing that it was the proper thing to do in order to resolve the situation. He describes his officers’ attempts to restrain King and King breaking out of their hold, leading him to shock him with his Taser. He attests that the officers feared King because of their belief that he was on PCP and that the drug grants its users “super-strength;” toxicology reports later reveal that there is no PCP in King’s system at the time. He reviews the video tape and uses it to bolster his claims that force was required, believing that King’s refusal to stay down meant that he was preparing to attack the officers. The prosecution cross-examines Koon and try to create doubt about his motives and those of the officers involved, and whether the use of force was justified given the circumstances that the officers found themselves in. Koon concedes that while he believes the force was necessary, it was unusually “violent and brutal.”

Police sergeant Charles L. Duke Jr. is called up to painstakingly dissect the video tape, arguing that each application of police force was in direct response to aggressive gestures on King’s part. White cross-examines Duke about the possibility of the tape containing excessive force, but Duke proves to be standoffish with him about the subject. Former LAPD captain Robert Michael is called to the stand to argue that the escalation of force on display was properly carried out and followed LAPD rules about responses to the suspect’s behavior. White attempts to make Michael’s assertions on the matter appear to be unreasonable. Powell is called to the stand and gives his recollections of the incident and the reasons why he believed King was dangerous and under the influence of PCP. He goes into specific detail about what he saw King do before, during, and after the beating. He repeatedly insists that he was scared for his life and feared that King would steal his gun and kill someone, and denies that he made mocking remarks to King while he was in the emergency room. White cross-examines Powell and calls his motivations into question, using messages he typed onto his police computers as evidence that he relished the opportunity to beat King. Powell denies White’s assertions despite repeated attempts to get him to change his testimony.

Wind decides not to testify despite an announcement from DePasquale two days earlier that he would. The defense produces nine witnesses in the form of other officers at the scene of the beating, corroborating the testimonies of the four on trial. White cross-examines all of them, asserting that their support is a result of a conspiracy within the police department not to speak out about the incident, so as not to indict the four charged officers. Bresino takes the stand and is made to seem as though he was acting against the other officers, and was trying to protect King rather than harm him. He expresses his belief that his fellow officers did not handle the situation properly and that he was angry at them for using excessive force. White cross-examines Bresino, using him to call many of the defendants’ assertions about the night into question. After the defense rests its case, and the prosecution uses witness Michael Bostic, a former LAPD commander, to expound on the LAPD policies of the “escalation and de-escalation” of force and why the incident in their view violates such policies. The defense cross-examines Bostic and attempts to discredit him and his expertise.

White makes his closing argument and asks the jury to consider the physical evidence, particularly the video tape, rather than the testimonies of the defendants. The defense makes its closing arguments, ascribing reasonable motives to the defendants for what they did and asking the jury to be mindful of their particular motivations and the circumstances of the event. White takes the opportunity to call out Powell specifically in his closing statements, believing that blame for any actions he committed is being redirected by the defense to others. The closing arguments conclude and the judge instructs the jury on how to vote on the case. During deliberation lawyers serving as commentators on the case go on television to discuss their views of how the trial progressed and the tactics of both the prosecution and the defense. Duke is also interviewed and expresses his views on some of the particulars of the trial. Judge Stanley Weisberg instructs the jury on how to formulate their decisions, and warns them that the “expert” witnesses called in by both sides are no more qualified to examine the video tape than the jury, as well as talking about the definition of reasonable force as it applies to the trial. After seven days of deliberation, the jury finds all four defendants not guilty on all counts except one: the jury is uncertain of whether Powell is guilty of excessive force. In the wake of this verdict, widespread rioting breaks out across Los Angeles in protest. King himself attempts to quell the rioting, calling for a more peaceful resolution. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: CourtTV
• DATE: 1992 10:00 AM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:52:16
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 103096
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection; TV - Public affairs/documentaries
• SERIES RUN: CourtTV - TV series, 1991-1998
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Stephen Cohen … Executive Producer
• Jamie Alter … Senior Producer
• Peter Aronson … Producer
• Kristin Jeanette-Meyers … Producer
• Nancy Crumley … Associate Producer
• Dominic Palumbo … Director
• Fred Graham … Host
• Bryant Allen
• John Barnett
• Michael Bostic
• Theodore Briseno
• Raymond Brown
• Lawrence Davis
• Paul DePasquale
• Charles L. Duke Jr.
• Carol Denise Edwards
• David Giannetto
• Christopher Hajduk
• George Holliday
• Ruth Jones
• Rodney King
• Stacey Koon
• David Love
• Antonio Mancia (audio id only)
• Robert Michael
• Darryl Mounger
• Joseph Napolitano
• Burt Neuborne
• Laurence Powell
• Ira Reiner
• Melanie Singer
• Tim Singer
• Michael Stone
• Glenda Tosti
• Stanley Weisberg
• Terry White
• Timothy Wind
• Alan Yochelson