Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair

269 Pages·1992·0.38 MB·English

by  Stacey Koon

PRESUMED
GUILTY

PRESUMED
GUILTY
The Tragedy of the
Rodney King Affair
Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, L.A.P.D.
with Robert Deitz
Regnery Gateway
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 1992 by Stacey C. Koon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from
the publisher, except written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or
broadcast.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koon, Stacey C., 1950-
Presumed guilty : the tragedy of the Rodney King affair / Stacey
C. Koon with Robert Deitz.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-89526-507-9 (alk. paper)
1. Police—California—Los Angeles—Complaints against—Case
studies. 2. King, Rodney. 3. Afro-Americans—California—Los
Angeles—Crimes against—Case studies. 4. Police training—
California—Los Angeles. I. Deitz, Robert, II. Title.
HV8148.L552K66 1992
363.2'3'092—dc20
[B] 92-29422
CIP
Published in the United States by Regnery Gateway
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Distributed to the trade by
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Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7
To Mary, Matthew, Gregory, Alicia, Kimberly, and Jennifer.
You’ve believed in me through everything difficult.
Especially Mary.

Acknowledgments
First, I must acknowledge all of the magnificent street cops it
was my privilege to learn from and serve with on the Los
Angeles Police Department for almost fifteen years. There are
so many that it would require a complete chapter to name
them all. But you know who you are. Thanks, to all of you.
Thanks, too, to the Los Angeles Police Protective League
and to Cliff Ruff, a director of that organization. The League
furnished strong moral and financial support to sustain me
and my officers through a long legal process that is not yet
over.
Besides my wonderful, supportive, loving, and very smart
wife, Mary, two other people have been especially helpful in
providing me with both spiritual and practical comfort in
getting through the personally difficult ordeal that has fol­
lowed the night of March 3, 1991.
The first is my attorney, Darryl Mounger. He is brilliant.
Clarence Darrow could not have surpassed his competence in
conceiving and executing a stunning courtroom strategy for
the defense based upon the truth. The second is Father Robert
Rankin—"Father Bob"—of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Church. His wisdom and patience have nourished the spiritual
determination required to confront adversity.
Alfred Regnery at Regnery Gateway is a courageous pub­
lisher, and I am indebted to him and his associates, Jennifer
Reist, Megan Butler, and Patricia Bozell, my editor, for taking
on this project and seeing it through to conclusion. Alfred
8 Acknowledgments
Regnery is a brave and daring man, who was willing to under­
take this publishing project despite almost universal hostility
in the media toward our cause.
Al also enlisted the assistance of Robert Deitz, an author,
reporter, and editor for thirty years. Bob has done a fine job in
helping organize the manuscript and getting it ready for pub­
lication. It is a delight to have made a new friend, as well as a
new professional associate. In addition, he added to my
understanding—if not my total acceptance—of how the
American media operate today.
Finally, I am deeply obliged to my parents, Helen and Larry
Koon, and my brother, Dana. They all were essential in provid­
ing the moral training and support that has sustained my
perception of right and wrong, and the ethical strength to do
what I have believed is right even when challenged by seem­
ingly overwhelming opposition. More immediately, they were
excellent editors and a loving, but discerning, sounding board
in the preparation of this manuscript.
Thanks, folks. I love you.
Stacey C. Koon
Los Angeles
August 1992
Contents
Foreword 11
Prologue 17
1: Force in the Foothills 25
The Pursuit, The Stop, Initial Use of Force, The Videotape,
More Force, A Bureaucratic Foul-Up, The Hospital
2: The LAPD's Flawed System for Using Force 53
How LAPD Policies Made the Rodney King Affair
Inevitable, How to Use Force
3: The Education of a Street Cop 65
Be Ready for Surprises, Don't Be Too Quick to Pull the
Trigger, PCP—A Cop's Nightmare, What to Do When a
TASER Doesn't Work, You Can't Let a Suspect Go, Things
Aren't Always What They Seem, Race Relations, Life
on the Streets and the Rodney King Arrest
4: Cops vs. Cops 92
An Internal Affairs Investigation Tries to Prove Conspiracy,
Chief Daryl Gates Betrays His Troops, Preparing to Do Battle,
Victims Are Chosen
5: The Trial 125
Setting a Strategy, Choosing a Jury, Arguing a
Case—and Winning
Tragic Consequences 190
The Media's Responsibility 203
Lessons Unlearned 219
Epilogue: The Rodney King Affair—A Story Still Not Over 233