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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 14NATIONBack in the Dock
The L.A. Four are indicted again, this time on civil rights
charges
Prosecutors got a second chance last week in Los Angeles. In
a move reminiscent of the 1960s, the Federal Government handed
down indictments against the four police officers whose
acquittals last April set off the worst riots in two decades.
As expected, they are charged with violating King's civil rights
when they arrested him on the night of March 3, 1991.
Three of the men, Los Angeles police department officers
Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Laurence Powell, were charged
with willfully using unreasonable force. A second count accuses
Sergeant Stacey Koon, the supervising officer at the scene, of
failing to prevent the assault. The trial date will be set at
their arraignment hearing.
The federal case faces the same challenges as the state
trial, including the tendency of jurors to sympathize with
police officers dealing with events in the line of duty. And
while the indictments brought a brief moment of satisfaction to
the still-recovering community, Angelenos are already worrying
about the consequences of yet another acquittal and whether the
prolonged legal process will be worth it.