Three months after a state jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers on nearly all charges in the beating of Rodney G. King, a verdict that set off deadly riots, a Federal grand jury here has indicted the same four men on Federal charges of violating Mr. King’s civil rights.
The indictment, returned Tuesday afternoon and unsealed today, charges the three officers who beat Mr. King during an arrest in March 1991 with violating his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable arrest. It charges their sergeant with depriving Mr. King of his 14th Amendment due-process rights for failing to restrain the officers. King Could Testify
In announcing the indictments, Lourdes G. Baird, the United States Attorney here, hinted that other police officers at the scene may yet be charged under Federal laws. “The investigation is still open,” she said. “I cannot comment on what charges we might be looking at or what witnesses we might be looking at.”
Mr. King is willing to testify in Federal court, and probably will do so, said Steven A. Lerman, the lawyer who represents him in a pending lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. “I am confident that Rodney King will testify,” he said. “I think that is a foregone certainty.” A Volatile Case
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Source: nytimes.com
A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 6, 1992, Section A, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: U.S. Jury Indicts 4 Police Officers In King Beating. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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