Willful Injustice: A Post O.J. Look at Rodney King, American Justice, and Trial by Race

Dietz, who wrote Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair, with L.A. policeman Stacey Koon, has written a strong brief for Koon that raises troubling questions for those who think the case is resolved. After a state court acquited the policemen of using excessive force against King, a federal court found some (including Koon) guilty of violating King's civil rights. King, seeking millions in damages, also filed civil suits against the city of Los Angeles and the officers. But, the author points out, though they awarded King damages from the city of Los Angeles, the jurors, learning of King's ne'er-do-well history, did not find the officers liable. Dietz argues that federal prosecutors knowingly used false testimony from officer Ted Briseno during the state trial to gain convictions against Koon and Laurence Powell in the federal one. He quotes a police educator, recruited by prosecutors as an expert witness, who, after seeing the complete videotape of the incident, could not judge that the force used was unreasonable. Also, he quotes three members of the federal jury, who have signed yet-unofficial affidavits, as saying they have reservations about the verdict and the sentence given to Koon and Powell. Furthermore, federal judge John Davies--whose sentence has been appealed by prosecutors to the Supreme Court--determined that only in the last 19 seconds of the infamous video did the cops show unlawful force. (Apr.)