Key Figures in the Trial

Here are some of the main figures in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial.

THE JUDGE

U.S. District Judge John G. Davies, 63

Appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Notable: Known as a moderate and independent conservative with a wry sense of humor. During the pretrial hearings he tried to balance the interests of opposing parties, and has taken it upon himself to zealously guard the jurors’ privacy.

Personal: A native of Australia, he won a gold medal for swimming in the 1952 Olympic Games.

THE DEFENDANTS

Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, 42

Convicted of supervising an unreasonable use of force.

Notable: Defended the arrest of King and has said that the officers’ actions were justified. During the state and federal trials, he took full responsibility for the other officers’ actions. Was the only defendant to testify in the federal trial.

Personal: He wrote a book, “Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair.”

Officer Laurence M. Powell, 30

Officer seen on the videotape administering the majority of blows to King.

Notable: Was the only defendant during last year’s trial who was not fully exonerated. The jury failed to reach a verdict on one count against him, which will be dismissed because of the federal trial.

Personal: Reacting angrily to the accusation that he beat King for racial reasons, he has noted that his family adopted minority children.

Officer Timothy E. Wind, 32

On the videotape, Wind is seen kicking King several times, as well as hitting him with his baton.

Notable: Is the only defendant who did not testify during last year’s trial and is the only one to avoid most requests for interviews.

Personal: Although he had worked as a police officer in Kansas, Wind was an LAPD rookie at the time of the beating and has been dismissed from the force.

Officer Theodore J. Briseno, 40

Is seen on the videotape stomping on King’s upper body.

Notable: Broke ranks with his colleagues during the state trial and testified that the other officers were “out of control.” Has since tempered those remarks, but an edited version of his testimony was presented in the federal trial.

Personal: Like Koon and Powell, has been suspended without pay.

THE PROSECUTORS

Barry F. Kowalski, 48

Based in Washington U.S. attorney’s office, Kowalski was sent to Los Angeles immediately after the riots.

Notable: May be the nation’s most experienced civil rights prosecutor. Has prosecuted Ku Klux Klansmen in the lynching of Michael Donald in Mobile, Ala., neo-Nazis in the murder of Jewish talk-show host Alan Berg and a white racist accused of shooting civil rights leader Vernon Jordan in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Steven D. Clymer, 34

Considered a rising star in the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Notable: Has served as the head of the major crimes section of the U.S. attorney’s office and has prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including a 1988 case in which two defendants were charged with murdering a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. His closing argument in the King case was widely praised.

THE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS

Ira Salzman, 40

Represented Koon.

Notable: His client was the lead defendant, and Salzman played the leading role among the defense lawyers in picking the jury. A former deputy district attorney, he has had his own criminal and civil law practice for about five years.

Michael P. Stone, 46

Represented Powell.

Notable: The most visible of the defense lawyers during last year’s trial in Simi Valley, Stone is a former police officer and onetime representative of the Police Protective League, the Los Angeles police union.

Paul DePasquale

Represented Wind.

Notable: Served as Wind’s lawyer during the first trial and has consistently kept a lower profile than the other lawyers. His client also has steered clear of the spotlight.

Harland W. Braun, 50

Represented Briseno.

Notable: One of the best-known criminal defense lawyers in Los Angeles, Braun is flamboyant and outspoken. Davies placed a partial gag order on Braun for a time because he repeatedly called the prosecution politically motivated, but that order was overturned on appeal.