Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Leaked Justice analysis says King case is weak Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 17:35:41 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Leaked Justice analysis says King case is weak \BY Jerry Seper \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES A confidential analysis of the government's case against four Los Angeles police officers accused of violating the civil rights of motorist Rodney King concludes that federal prosecutors have a weak case and will be hard-pressed to win it in court. According to law enforcement officials and others who have seen the analysis, federal prosecutors have little evidence and few compelling witnesses to substantiate allegations that the officers "willfully and intentionally" violated King's civil rights by means of "unreasonable force," as they have been charged. "They have no force or policy experts who can testify that what happened the night Rodney King was arrested was unreasonable, illegal or outside Los Angeles Police Department policy," said one law enforcement official who saw the analysis. "It was a very bleak overview of what government prosecutors thought of their own case." The analysis - known as an "order of proof" - was given anonymously to one of the defense lawyers in the case. The order of proof said prosecutors were concerned about King's credibility as a witness and had no hard evidence or other compelling witnesses to show that the officers had not followed department policy in the King arrest. King was beaten March 3, 1991, after a high-speed chase. The beating was captured on videotape, an edited version of which was shown on nationwide television. In April, a state jury in Simi Valley, Calif., viewing an unedited version of the tape and listening to witnesses during a three-month trial, found the officers - Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind - not guilty on state charges that they used excessive force in the King arrest. The verdict sparked three days of rioting in Los Angeles that left 52 persons dead and caused more than $1 billion in damage. The federal civil rights trial tentatively is scheduled to begin Feb. 2. The analysis, whose leak to the defense was reported yesterday in the Los Angeles Times, also questioned the credibility of other expected prosecution witnesses, including Bryant Allen, a passenger in the King car, and Melanie Singer, a California Highway Patrol officer. Allen, a convicted felon, proved to be a less-than-convincing prosecution witness during the state trial. He testified that King was acting "strange" and that he yelled repeatedly at King to stop his car after they became involved in the police chase. He also admitted during cross-examination that when he got out of the King car, he was handcuffed by police, forced to lie on the ground and did not see what happened to King, who was on the opposite side of the car. Officer Singer, who initiated the King chase, was the state's key witness and testified that Officer Powell hit King in the head seven times with a metal baton with what she said were "full power strokes." The testimony contradicted what was seen on the unedited videotape and, according to the analysis, did not fit the injuries King sustained. The government's analysis, according to the sources, said that federal prosecutors did not believe Officer Singer's version of what happened and were leery of her testimony. There also was a question on her potential use of deadly force at the arrest site. Officer Singer, according to the sources, pointed her gun at King when he made sexually provocative gestures at her. According to court testimony, it was Sgt. Koon who ordered Officer Singer to holster her weapon. The analysis, according to the sources, was sent anonymously to Michael Stone, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents Officer Powell. The FBI, according to the sources, confiscated it after Mr. Stone contacted federal authorities to discuss the analysis. Federal prosecutors then filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles - which they won - to have the document sealed and a gag order instituted. The analysis, according to the sources, was prepared by the chief prosecutors in the case, including Barry Kowalski, deputy section chief for the Justice Department's civil rights division in Washington, and Steven D. Clymer, the case's lead prosecutor. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is looking into the leak, trying to determine who was responsible for sending the analysis to Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone's office yesterday declined comment, citing the gag order. Justice Department officials said the leak did not seriously damage the case and that strategy adjustments were made afterward. A two-count federal indictment, handed up Aug. 4, alleges that Officers Powell, Wind and Briseno "willfully and intentionally used unreasonable force" in the King arrest. Sgt. Koon, shift commander at the time of the beating, was charged with "permitting and failing to take action to stop the unlawful assault." The officers' conduct, according to the indictment, deprived King of his civil rights. The four pleaded not guilty. If convicted, each faces 10 years in prison and fines of $250,000. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. 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