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By the summer of 1991, attorneys for the four LAPD officers charged in the Rodney King beating believed they couldn’t receive a fair trial in Los Angeles. The mayor of the city, the governor of California, and the president of the United States had all publicly condemned the officers’ conduct. A poll showed that 81 percent of 1,000 potential Los Angeles jurors believed the officers were “more likely guilty.”
The defense attorneys tried a longshot: They filed for a change of venue. In the previous 22 years, only two change-of-venue requests to move a trial from Los Angeles County had been granted. The city had a huge and diverse jury pool—the biggest for any Superior Court in the country. There were few places better suited to seat 12 jurors with open minds.
But the longshot worked, and the trial was moved to Simi Valley, a city 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Culturally, it might as well have been 400 miles away. Simi Valley was a stronghold for conservative politicians and even more homogenous than the rest of Ventura County: 80 percent of the city was white, and only one-and-a-half percent was Black.
During this season of Slow Burn, we are exploring the people and events behind the biggest civil disturbance in American history. On the fifth episode of the season, we tell the story of the officers’ trial and acquittal. How did the prosecution make its case against the police? How did the officers hold up under questioning? And what happened when the verdict was announced? Below you’ll find some of the links that helped me understand how the trial played out in real time and how key participants look back on the decisions that led to the jury’s verdict. —Joel Anderson
Lois Timnick
Los Angeles TimesJoel Anderson: “The defense’s motion to move the trial out of L.A. County was rejected by the trial court, but the appeals court overruled that decision. One key part of the defense’s legal argument was this letter by the director of the Mexican American Political Association, reading in part: ‘If this case isn’t dealt with justice and equality, it’s going to get very hot in Los Angeles.’ The court called it an ‘incendiary communication.’”
Anna North
VoxJA: “Simi Valley, the site of the trial, had earned a reputation for hostility to Black people. In the 1950s, when the city was first being developed, signs that read ‘No n-----s or dogs allowed’ were posted on rock formations around town. The city was later known as “Copland” because so many law enforcement officers lived there. This article talks about the city’s history as well as the Black Lives Matter protests there in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd.”
Henry Weinstein
Los Angeles TimesJA: “For months, the District Attorney’s office debated whether to put King on the stand. King’s personal attorney Steve Lerman told me that King was in no shape to testify given his brain injuries. Lead prosecutor Terry White said Lerman frustrated his efforts to interview King before the trial. And when White did get to speak with King, he told me he found King unreliable and quick-tempered. He decided it was too risky.”
Richard A. Serrano
Los Angeles TimesJA: “In a trial that hinged on whether the officers used an appropriate amount of force on King, the prosecution couldn’t convince anyone to testify that the officers had gone too far. The defense, on the other hand, called a 21-year veteran of the LAPD who testified that the force was justified.”
News Gate Studios
YouTubeJA: “Stacey Koon was the officer who took control of the scene that night, and he was the first officer to take the stand during the trial. Koon basked in all of the attention. The lawyer for another of the officers on trial told me that Koon was the ‘best witness I’ve ever seen anywhere.’ In this interview after the trial, Koon says that people who have spoken out about the verdict are ‘uninformed.’ Then, nearly six months after the verdict, he published an autobiography, writing, ‘I was able to bring the videotape to life in a form never seen before.’”
YouTubeJA: “This broadcast from the day after the officers were found not guilty offers a good look into what it was like to live through the moment. It includes audio from a juror who says she felt, ‘King was directing the action—he was the one who determined how long it took to put him in handcuffs.’ The broadcast also features footage of the first night of riots in L.A.”
OWN
YouTubeJA: “Here you can get more insight into how people outside of the courtroom viewed the verdict (and the footage).”
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Joel Anderson
Joel Anderson is a staff writer at Slate and the host of Seasons 3 and 6 of Slow Burn. Previously, he worked as a reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News.