Those who saw George Halliday’s video of the officers brutally beating Rodney king had a realistic expectation of a guilty verdict, as did much of the country.
First off, the George Halliday video did not start at the beginning of the encounter, so nobody should have made a conclusion only off of a smaller part of the facts. Secondly, the news media for over a year continually played only edited versions of the Halliday video; the most dramatic parts aimed at getting people to watch the news. Left out was the part in the video showing King charging at the officers and threatening to swing at them. Therefore anyone expecting for a verdict not based on all of the facts a jury would be deciding on, is not a measure of what the actual facts really were.
The group of lawyers where I worked were positive of a guilty verdict.
The lawyers and cops I know were skeptical of a slam dunk. Most predicted partial acquittals, or convicted of lesser included offenses within the charges.
The change of venue to conservative Simi Valley in Ventura County put the verdict in the hands of those who evidently thought the LAPD could do no wrong,
WRONG! Every person in the USA is entitled to a fair trial. A change of venue is a standard right for any defendant where it may be unlikely they can get a fair and impartial jury. But you already said it here. Based on the Halliday video (the one played over and over and over), and the expectation for guilt (including your lawyer friends who did not keep an open mind), then it was perfectly appropriate for the a judge to grant a change of venue; the defendants were entitled to a fair jury.
a jury who had never had interaction with the department. All officers involved in the beating were later found guilty in a civil case.
LAPD was not on trial, individual officers were on trial. Your comment here demonstrates your built in bias. A juror cannot bring bias into their decision.
And need I explain to you the vast difference in burden of proof in a civil case as compared to a criminal case?
Gates was attending a party the night of the verdict, and intentionally delayed his return to duty, allowing the situation to deteriorate — his final f-you to the City of Los Angeles. He creates the crisis and then walks away.
Gates asked for more overtime and more show of force prior to the verdict and he was lambasted for it. Mayor Bradly elected to play politics with the situation, he himself fueled the false expectations for a certain guilty verdict. I don't believe Gates handled that part well, but blame also belongs to Mayor Bradly.
Latasha Harlans was shot in back as she was leaving the store, after the store owner had grabbed her backpack, and then thrown a stool at the girl. She had the money for the juice in her hand.
Harlins had attempted to steal the juice, she took it off a shelf and placed in her backpack. Nobody does that who intends to pay for it. I don't care if she had money in her hand, she was old enough to know you don't attempt to conceal items until they are paid for. The store owner had more than a reasonable suspicion Harlins was stealing from her, and so she attempted to retrieve her property when Harlins struck the woman twice in the face.
Lots of public outcry for the slap on the wrist of the store owner.
It was not a slap on the wrist. The store owner was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The DA could not prove that there was any intent to kill Harlins. The store owner screwed up, she was injured and scared after the beating; drew the gun and was negligent. That is not murder, that is involuntary manslaughter; the jury got that one correct.
Once again a young Black person dies due to their criminal and/or threatening behavior. How exhaustive a list on that need I provide for you? It does society no good, especially the Black community, to continue to excuse the type of behavior which ends up in these results. Be it Rodney King, George Floyd, Latasha Harlins, Eula Love, Michael Brown, and on and on.
There were Korean community leaders critical of the verdict, and were trying to repair relations between the Black and Korean communities.
Sure, many in the Korean community were scared and knew there would be a possibly violent response.
That is what goes on in that community. The constant drum beat that some Black people are victims, and they are entitled to act in ways the rest of us don't. That is what killed Latash Harlins, Flyod, Brown, and Love.
