NAACP Will Monitor Trial of Officers in King Beating

When four Los Angeles police officers stand trial in Ventura County next month in the beating of Rodney G. King, the NAACP plans to have monitors in the courtroom to ensure that the area’s conservative nature does not skew the proceeding in favor of the accused men.

Representatives of the NAACP’s Ventura and Los Angeles county chapters said Wednesday at least two members will attend each day of the trial, scheduled to begin Feb. 3 in the East Ventura County Courthouse in Simi Valley.

“We want to be there and let people know that we are going to monitor the case from start to finish to ensure that a fair and impartial trial does take place,” said Jose DeSosa, president of the California Conference for the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

DeSosa said that if the NACCP finds something objectionable, the organization will protest and consult its attorneys to see whether legal recourse is available.

John R. Hatcher III, president of the Ventura County NAACP chapter, said the organization would have preferred that the case remain in Los Angeles. He said blacks make up about 2% of Ventura County’s population, compared to about 10.5% in Los Angeles County.

Hatcher said that because a large concentration of Los Angeles police officers live in eastern Ventura County, he is concerned that relatives and friends of those officers could end up on the jury and possibly sway the trial’s outcome.

The 1980 census found that about 2,000 active law enforcement officers live in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, but police officials in the cities said the figure has since doubled. The 1990 census breakdowns are not yet available.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case say it can be tried fairly in Ventura County.

“I don’t have any concerns at all,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry L. White. “We believe we will receive a fair trial.”

Michael Stone, representing Officer Laurence Powell, said, “I don’t think there is any reason for suspicion” about the case being tried in Ventura County. Lawyers for Sgt. Stacy Koon, Officer Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind have said they are pleased.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg transferred the trial to Ventura County after an appeals court ruled that excessive publicity and a highly charged political climate made a fair hearing impossible in Los Angeles County.