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

DATE: MONDAY, February 15, 1993                   TAG: 9302150056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

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KING OUTCOME REVERSED IN POLL

Most American jurors would have convicted the four Los Angeles police officers acquitted on most charges last year in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, according to a new survey.

The poll also found that the majority of nearly 800 jurors interviewed between August and September don't trust the testimony of police officers.

The poll by The National Law Journal and LEXIS database service appears in today's issue of the weekly newspaper. It was described as the most comprehensive national poll of jurors ever made. The margin of error was 5 percentage points.

The poll results were released as jury selection continues in Los Angeles in the federal civil rights trial of the white police officers accused of beating King, who is black. Their acquittals on state charges touched off deadly rioting in Los Angeles.

Sixty-one percent of all the jurors polled said they would have convicted the officers in the King case. Of the white jurors polled, 58 percent said they would have voted for conviction. Among the black jurors, 89 percent said they would have voted to convict.

The poll also found that when jurors face a conflict in testimony between a police officer and a defendant, 51 percent of the jurors said that the officer's testimony should not necessarily be believed. For black jurors, 70 percent felt this way.

While jurors have trouble believing police officers, they are impressed by expert witnesses, according to the poll.

Ninety-five percent of jurors who heard expert testimony during criminal trials were impressed by it; 68 percent found it very believable and 27 percent found it somewhat believable.

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