Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993 TAG: 9302040019
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
2ND TRIAL OF OFFICERS BEGINS
A second trial began Wednesday for four policemen in the beating of Rodney King. More than 300 prospective jurors were asked if they participated in deadly riots that followed the first trial.The prospective jurors also were asked whether they could reach a verdict without fear of a new outbreak of violence.
The defendants in the federal civil rights trial - Sgt. Stacey Koon, Officers Laurence Powell and Theodore Briseno and former Officer Timothy Wind - faced the prospective jurors as U.S. District Judge John Davies introduced them.
It could take at least two weeks to select a jury.
The 333 prospects were promised that their answers on a 53-page questionnaire would be kept secret forever. But one man skeptical of that promise rose in the jury assembly room and walked toward Davies.
"Can I ask a question of the judge or whoever is in charge?" the man said.
"You are asking us to solemnly swear but you are not solemnly swearing that our questionnaires will be kept confidential. Why don't you take an oath?" he asked snappishly.
A deputy marshal stepped toward the man and said, "That's enough."
"I'm a citizen! I have a right to speak," the man replied.
Davies declared the man's question was fair. But, the judge added, "I don't think I need to take an oath. An order has been issued."
Davies assured prospects that their identities and written answers would remain secret. And he told them the jury will be sequestered at a hotel away from families for the duration of the trial, expected to be eight weeks.
The half-hour proceeding was closed to the public, except for a three-reporter news media pool.
The officers are charged in the videotaped beating of King after he was chased and stopped for speeding on March 3, 1991. Wind, a rookie who was still on probation, was fired after the beating; the others have been suspended.
The officers' federal trial opened a year after they went on trial on assault charges in state court in the mostly white suburb of Simi Valley. Verdicts in April acquitting them of most charges triggered deadly riots in which more than 50 people died and $1 billion in damage was done.
After the riots, a federal grand jury indicted the officers on charges they violated King's civil rights. The officers are white and King is black, but Davies has ruled that prosecutors don't have to prove the beating was racially motivated.
About 10 percent of the prospective jurors were black and 10 percent appeared to be other minorities. One-quarter of the panel appeared elderly. The federal trial is being held in downtown Los Angeles; the prospective jurors were drawn from throughout the metropolitan area.
The questionnaire they must fill out focused on the first trial and its aftermath. Davies released a blank copy. There were 148 questions, including:
"What was your personal reaction to the verdicts in the state court trial? Did you feel that justice had been served or were you disappointed with the verdicts?"
"Did you or any friend or relative participate in the civil unrest?"
"Did you or any member of your family suffer property damage or personal injury as a result of the riots?"
"Do you fear the prospect of social unrest following a verdict in this case?"
And, despite the ruling that prosecutors need not prove a racial motive, a four-page section focused on racial issues. It asked if they thought the riots were caused by "deep frustration and anger many blacks feel as a result of racial discrimination."