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EX-OFFICERS WON'T SERVE MORE TIME : KOON GETS TO KEEP RICHES FROM DONORS.


Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer

Former LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel.
2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department.
 officers Stacey Koon Stacey C. Koon was a Sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department. On March 3, 1991, after a high speed chase, he and four other officers - Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseño and Rolando Solano - attempted to arrest Rodney King.  and Laurence Powell Laurence Michael Powell (b. 1963) is a former Los Angeles Police officer. He was one of four officers involved in the Rodney King beating on March 3, 1991.

Powell graduated from Crescenta Valley High School as an honors student and took three semesters in college.
 walked out of federal court Thursday with their liberty - and, in Koon's case, with the right to keep an estimated $10 million.

At a resentencing hearing ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. District Judge John Davies John Davies may refer to:
  • John Davies of Hereford (1565?–1618) poet and satirist
  • Sir John Davies (poet) (1569–1626) poet, statesman, attorney-general in Ireland
  • Dr. John Davies (Mallwyd) (c.
 rejected a new request by federal prosecutors to add prison time for the two men for civil-rights convictions in the 1991 Rodney King Rodney Glen King (born April 9, 1965 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an African-American taxicab driver who was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers (Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Sargent Stacey Koon) after being chased for speeding.  beating.

Davies also rejected imposing a fine on Koon despite claims by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Middleton that the former police sergeant ``profited to the tune of close to $10 million'' in sales of his book and a fund-raising effort Noun 1. fund-raising effort - a campaign to raise money for some cause
fund-raising campaign, fund-raising drive

crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported
 on his behalf.

Koon and Powell, who both served 30-month federal prison terms, avoided reporters as they left the courthouse. Attorneys for the two men said Davies' decisions bring closure.

``There's a great feeling of relief,'' said attorney Michael Stone, who represented Powell in both the state and federal trials. ``They are very relieved this is over. It's been five long years Five Long Years is one of the most widely covered blues standards. It was originally written and recorded by Eddie Boyd in 1952. Recordings
  • Eddie Boyd, 1952, the original performance
  • Buddy Guy, 1991, Damn Right I've Got a Blues
.''

The infamous videotape of white officers surrounding African-American Rodney G. King and beating him with batons, after a high-speed chase in March 1991, forced sweeping policy changes in the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).

This article or section is written like an .
.

The officers' acquittals in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969.  on state charges sparked the worst urban riots since the Civil War.

Maybe now, Stone said, everyone can move on.

Since the beating, King, who has collected $3.8 million in a lawsuit against the city, continues to have sporadic contacts with law enforcement and is going through a bitter divorce.

Timothy Wind, a rookie officer acquitted of criminal charges in the King beating, works as a part-time community service officer at the Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers.  Police Department.

Ted Briseno, who testified against the other officers in state court, works as a security guard. ``Ted is basically broke and ruined,'' said Harland Braun, his former attorney.

And Powell, who delivered most of the blows to King and was convicted in federal court on criminal charges, is going to school part-time and hoping for a career in computers.

Only Koon has emerged from the five-year case with financial security.

Financial statements from a Virginia-based legal defense fund set up on his behalf show that sympathetic supporters of Koon poured in about $4.5 million in 1994 and about $3.6 million in 1995.

Those figures included a $400,000 trust fund set up in Koon's name; $167,000 in trust funds for his wife; $479,000 in trust funds for his children; an additional $1 million given for ``family support'' and legal fees; and more unspecified donations.

Powell also tried fund-raising, drawing between $60,000 and $70,000 in his early efforts, then attracting about $18,000 in 1995 and as little as $2,500 in 1996.

Koon, in contrast, was backed by a fund-raising machine that sent out financial solicitations all across the country. People contributing more than $30 got a copy of his book, ``Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair.''

Braun said Koon probably wishes he could trade the millions of dollars for the life he had before the King beating.

``In the public's mind he's a racist fascist,'' said Braun, ``which he is not.''

Koon and Powell showed no emotion as Davies reconsidered their sentences Thursday.

Prosecutors sought the rehearing rehearing n. conducting a hearing again based on the motion of one of the parties to a lawsuit, petition or criminal prosecution, usually by the court or agency which originally heard the matter. , appealing the sentences originally handed down in 1993. They claimed that Davies erred in deviating downward from federal sentencing guidelines The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are rules that set out a uniform sentencing policy for convicted defendants in the United States federal court system. The Guidelines are the product of the United States Sentencing Commission and are part of an overall federal sentencing reform  that called for the men to spend 70 to 87 months behind bars.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Davies was correct in considering the hardship to Koon and Powell of two prosecutions, both by the state and the federal government, and their susceptibility to abuse in prison. But the high court said Davies erred when he considered the effect that the convictions would have on the officers' careers and the improbability im·prob·a·bil·i·ty  
n. pl. im·prob·a·bil·i·ties
1. The quality or condition of being improbable.

2. Something improbable.

Noun 1.
 that the pair would run afoul of the law again.

On Thursday, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office argued that - with the two factors removed from consideration - Koon and Powell should be sentenced to an additional two years in prison.

``We always believed that a significant sentence was appropriate for the conduct that Messrs. Koon and Powell were convicted of - and a significant fine in light of the millions that Koon has received as a direct result of his conduct,'' said U.S. Attorney Nora Manella outside court.

Davies rejected the prosecution's arguments in court.

``I'm certain in this case, even if I had not used the two erroneous factors . . ., I still would have imposed exactly the same sentence on the defendants,'' Davies said Thursday.

Davies also rejected prosecutors' request that Koon and Powell pay a fine of $6,000 to $60,000 each.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Koon

(2 -- color) Powell
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Sep 27, 1996
Words:812
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