Grand Jury to Probe Beating of Motorist : Police: Indictments will be sought against more than three officers. One has been disciplined before for using excessive force.

By SHERYL STOLBERG and TRACY WOOD

March 9, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

District attorney officials, saying that more than three Los Angeles police officers should be prosecuted for the videotaped beating of an Altadena man, announced Friday they will seek grand jury indictments in an attempt to speed the volatile case through the criminal justice system.

Also Friday, Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay said his office has decided against prosecuting Rodney G. King, who was struck and kicked repeatedly by police early Sunday morning after he allegedly led them on a chase that ended in the San Fernando Valley.

“The conduct of the arresting officers after the the traffic stop effectively invalidated the prosecution of King,” said Livesay, acting on behalf of Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who was out of the country Friday.

Meanwhile, Police Department records reviewed Friday by The Times show that one of the officers who participated in the attack was disciplined before for using excessive force. Officer Ted Briseno was suspended without pay for 66 days in 1987 for kicking and beating a suspect. At the time, Briseno promised department supervisors that he would never again engage in such activity.

The beating of King, videotaped by an amateur photographer, has sparked an outcry over police misconduct in Los Angeles, as well as calls for the resignation of Chief Daryl F. Gates. The images of white officers pummeling the black motorist with their batons were aired by television stations across the country.

Livesay’s announcement that the Los Angeles County Grand Jury would investigate the beating came one day after Gates recommended that felony charges be filed against only three of the 15 officers who were at the scene and that others be disciplined administratively.

The grand jury will begin hearings Monday, said Livesay, who estimated the panel will complete its work in one to three days. Moreover, it may go beyond Gates’ recommendation.

“We’re looking at all 15 LAPD people who were out there,” said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, “including the sergeant who was the supervisor at that location and supposedly in charge.”

The officers could face felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, use of excessive force and filing false police reports, Livesay said.

Prosecutors hope that by presenting their case to the grand jury, they can obtain indictments and proceed quickly to trial. A law passed by California voters last year allows prosecutors to bypass preliminary hearings--which can last weeks or months--by taking their cases to grand juries for indictments.

The 23-member grand jury is a citizens panel that meets behind closed doors to investigate criminal cases and recommend ways to improve county-run programs, such as foster care and jails. In criminal cases, the district attorney controls the proceedings, deciding what witnesses to call and what evidence to present.

On Thursday, the grand jury subpoenaed the videotape of the King beating from television station KTLA. The station, which purchased the tape from George Holliday of Lake View Terrace, has turned over the tape.

After watching the videotape, the grand jurors will be presented evidence the Los Angeles Police Department has gathered against three of its Foothill Division officers, who were seen on the tape beating and kicking King.

The incident began after King allegedly led police on a chase that ended in Lake View Terrace, a hillside area in the San Fernando Valley. According to Gates, officers struck King between 53 and 56 times with their batons. Gates said police believed King was on the drug PCP at the time.

On Friday, King’s doctor and lawyer asserted that the 25-year-old unemployed construction worker suffered irreparable injuries, including what Dr. Edmund Chein called a “blowout of the eye orbit”--meaning that the bones that hold King’s right eye in its socket are permanently cracked.

“I don’t believe Mr. King will ever, ever be a normal man again,” said lawyer Steven Lerman. “He will never be the same Rodney King after they whipped him like a dog.”

Although police have not identified the primary participants in the beating, Gates did say the three he recommended for prosecution were a rookie, a three-year officer and a nine-year veteran.

He said the three have been removed from field duty, as has a sergeant who was on the scene and supposed to prevent the attack. Gates has not recommended that the sergeant be prosecuted, but he said that the sergeant has been disciplined before.

A police report on the incident identified the sergeant as Stacey Koon, a 14-year veteran. In addition, the head of the department’s Foothill Division confirmed that three of his officers have been removed from field duty: rookie Timothy Wind, 30; three-year Officer Laurence Michael Powell, 28; and nine-year veteran Briseno, 38.

Briseno was found guilty by a police Board of Rights of using excessive force in the June 14, 1987, arrest of a man who was suspected of beating a child. Briseno was found not guilty on another count.

The board found that Briseno, of Sepulveda, unnecessarily struck the suspect on the head with his baton, made improper remarks to the suspect, improperly kicked the suspect when he was handcuffed and attempted to persuade a rookie officer to deny that the incident occurred.

According to a transcript of the hearing, Briseno promised not to let it happen again.

“I got a little too aggressive out there, but I can assure you that it will not happen again ever,” he said. “I apologize to the board for that.”

Police Capt. Doug Watson, who was charge of the proceeding, asked: “Ted, how can I believe that you will never do this again?”

“Well, sir,” Briseno replied, “on my word, sir.”

Briseno’s brother, a Los Angeles Airport police officer, stepped to his defense Friday. Michael Briseno asserted that his brother was the only officer at the scene who tried to stop his colleagues from beating King. The videotape does show that one officer tried to stop the beating, but Gates said on Thursday that investigators had not identified that officer.

“During this whole incident,” Michael Briseno said of his brother, “he was screaming, he was pleading with the officers to stop it. He was pleading with the sergeant to do something about it. He couldn’t get a response from anybody.”

Times staff writers Leslie Berger, Sam Enriquez, Andrea Ford and John Johnson contributed to this story.

BACKGROUND In 1978, the California Supreme Court ruled that defendants indicted by grand juries were also entitled to preliminary hearings. Prosecutors began to view grand jury proceedings as duplicative, and the use of grand juries to indict in criminal cases was all but abandoned. But voters last June passed Proposition 115, a wide-ranging initiative that said defendants indicted by grand juries are not entitled to preliminary hearings. The California District Attorneys Assn. expected a surge in the use of grand juries, but that has not taken place. “In part, it may be too soon,” said association Director Mike Sweet. “In part, it may be because deputy (district attorneys) are preferring preliminary hearings.” Thanks to another proviso of Proposition 115, such hearings can be put on faster than ever. Now, hearsay testimony is allowed, meaning a police officer can report what a victim told him and the victim can save a trip to court.