
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 22, 1991                   TAG: 9103220371
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

POLICE: MOTORIST NEARLY DRUNK/ TESTS SHOW BEATEN MAN ALSO HAD MARIJUANA IN

Rodney King, a black motorist whose beating by police officers was videotaped, had marijuana in his system and was nearly drunk after his arrest, according to test results released Thursday.

The videotape of the beating at the hands of club-wielding white officers ignited a national uproar and has brought demands for the police chief's resignation.

King's urine test, conducted at the National Toxicology Lab in Bakersfield, detected traces of marijuana in King's system, police spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon said.

A blood sample taken after King was beaten March 3 showed his blood alcohol level was 0.079, Nixon said. In California, a person is considered drunk at 0.08 percent.

"We were told with that level, it could be extrapolated back to a level that would place Mr. King well above the level that you are presumed to be under the influence of alcohol at the time he was operating his motor vehicle," said Nixon.

The tests contradict earlier statements by a King lawyer, Robert Rentzer, who said his client was a devoted Jehovah's Witness who didn't drink or take drugs. King's lawyers didn't return telephone calls Thursday.

Bryant Allen, a passenger in King's car, told authorities that he, King and another passenger, Freddie Helms, each had consumed 40 ounces of malt liquor before the beating incident, said Allen's attorney John Burton.

King's doctor, Edmund Chein, said his examination several days after the beating showed no trace of drugs. King sustained 11 broken skull bones, a fractured ankle and variety of other injuries during the attack.

Four police officers, including a sergeant, were indicted on felony assault charges last week for the beating of King, 25. A grand jury is expected to hear evidence against the 21 other officers at the scene.

The urine sample was taken three days after the beating; Nixon would not say when the blood sample was obtained. Marijuana can be detected in urine for weeks.

"It's not my understanding at this time that we're trying to make the point that he was under the influence of marijuana when he was driving the car," Nixon said.

by CNB