Los Angeles Police Officers' Trials: 1992 & 1993

Now only the defendants could help themselves. Stacey Koon was first to take the stand. Insisting that his actions were a textbook example of how to subdue an aggressive suspect, the sergeant said, "My intent at that moment was to cripple Rodney King … that is a better option than going to deadly force." Koon maintained that "He [King] made all the choices. He made all the wrong choices." In a cool, confident voice, Koon continued, "This is not a boxing match. We had a tactical advantage and we keep the tactical advantage, and we do not give it up. The tactical advantage is Rodney King is on the ground and we are going to keep him on the ground."

The prosecution was denied an important line of inquiry when Judge John G. Davies barred Steven Clymer from raising allegedly racial passages included in a book written by Koon about the incident. Instead, Clymer could isolate only minor inconsistencies in Koon's testimony. "You are exaggerating, are you not, the amount of things you say happened?"

"No, sir," Koon replied firmly. "I am telling you my recollection."

To general astonishment, it was announced that none of the other defendants would testify. Which left only the closing arguments. Following these representations, Judge Davies gave the jury a careful reading of the complex law involved and they retired.

With the media, many public officials, and ordinary citizens predicting another round of riots if the four officers were acquitted, the tension built in Los Angeles as the jurors deliberated. Police officers were put on 12-hour shifts, and California Governor Pete Wilson mobilized National Guard units. Gun stores did business at breakneck speed as shopkeepers and residents set about protecting themselves. One week after jurors began deliberation on April 17, 1993, they were back. Koon and Powell were emotionless as their guilty verdicts were read out, while Briseno and Wind were acquitted. Koon and Powell were each sentenced to 30 months imprisonment on August 4, 1993.

On August 19, 1994, after a well-publicized and well-funded campaign on behalf of the convicted officers, a Federal Appeals Court upheld the convictions against Koon and Powell, and admonished Trial Judge John G. Davies for the leniency of the sentences.

Rodney King's civil suit against the city of Los Angeles concluded on April 19, 1994, when he was awarded damages of $3.8 million. His suit for punitive damages was declined by a jury on June 1, 1994.

Koon and Powell were released from prison in December 1995. Rodney King used some of the money he was awarded to form a record label. In 1996, King was convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge after he tried to throw his wife out of a moving car; he served 90 days in jail.

Few jury decisions have so affected everyday life as the verdicts in these two trials. The first prompted violence on an appalling scale, while an entire city held its breath awaiting the second. And yet, almost unmentioned in all of the turmoil, was the question of possible double jeopardy, and whether the officers should have been retried for essentially the same crime. As puzzling as the first verdict may have been, many felt that the subsequent federal trial was predicated more on outrage than the Constitution.