LOS ANGELES -- Rodney King's chances of collecting rich punitive damages for his 1991 police beating shrunk again Monday when a judge dismissed the wealthiest and most symbolic defendant: former police chief Daryl Gates.
"The plaintiffs have failed to prove that Mr. Gates acted maliciously or out of spite or was callously indifferent to the rights and safety of others," said U.S. District Court Judge John Davies.
One of the key pieces of evidence - the Christopher Commission report that found widespread racism and brutality in the Los Angeles Police Department - did not blame Gates for King's beating, he said.
"A huge setback," says noted criminal lawyer Barry Levin.
Davies also dismissed four police officers - just days after four others were dismissed. Davies said bystander officers at the videotaped beating played a minor role.
Gates reacted quickly.
"This is a vengeance case," he said. "I'm saddened that all officers were not dismissed. . . . They're in jail. For these jerks, these attorneys, to go after them in this fashion is absolutely disgusting."
King's lawyers said they might appeal. "Money was not the primary motive," said Milton Grimes. "We have to let police officers know if they perpetrate this kind of brutality they will pay."
King has already won $ 3.8 million in compensatory damages from the city. He originally sued 15 individuals for punitive damages but now can hope to collect from only six.
Still being sued: ex-sergeant Stacey Koon and ex-officer Laurence Powell, who are serving 30-month federal sentences; ex-officers Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind, acquitted twice but now unemployed.
Also: Officers Rolando Solano and Louis Turiaga, who King says dragged him to the side of the road when he was hogtied.
"I don't think you're going to get substantial punitive damages out of the remaining defendants," says civil rights lawyer Thomas Beck. "If there had been any defendant they could've hit to set an example, it would've been Gates."
