“Hit Him!” Ex-Officer Says His Sergeant Ordered Him
- New York Times, April 23, 1994

Timothy E. Wind, the former rookie police officer who was twice acquitted in the beating of Rodney G. King, has taken the witness stand for the first time, in Mr. King’s civil suit, and in two days of testimony struck directly at fellow officers.

“‘Hit him! Hit him!’ ” he said his superior, Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, ordered, even after Mr. King, a motorist who was stopped after a high-speed chase, had been struck repeatedly.

And contrary to the vigorous testimony of the other officers and their expert witnesses during two previous criminal trials, Mr. Wind said his partner, Laurence M. Powell, had struck Mr. King directly in the head.

When Mr. King was in a “push-up position” on the ground, Mr. Wind said, “I saw the end of his baton hit Mr. King in the right cheek.”

Blows to the Head Forbidden

That observation is crucial because police procedure forbids delivering baton blows to the head because they can be fatal; their use against Mr. King would suggest greater culpability by the officers. Both an amateur videotape of the beating and the memories of the participants are blurred and inconclusive on whether any of the 56 baton blows struck Mr. King on the head.

The fourth police officer who has been a defendant at all three trials, Theodore J. Briseno, has offered conflicting accounts. At the first criminal trial, he described blows to the head. But in the current trial, he said his viewing of a newly enhanced version of the videotape had convinced him that they did not occur.

Lawyers for Mr. King called Mr. Wind as a hostile witness, and his testimony on Thursday and today opened the second, punitive phase of the civil trial; on Tuesday, the jury awarded Mr. King $3.8 million in compensatory damages from the City of Los Angeles.

Mr. Wind was followed to the stand by Officer Timothy Singer of the California Highway Patrol, who also testified that he had seen Mr. Powell strike Mr. King in the head. Later, at the hospital where Mr. King had been taken, Officer Singer said in a new account that he had asked Mr. Powell, “Are you L.A.P.D.’s designated hitter, or what?”

He said that Mr. Powell replied, ” ‘You know, I tired myself out hitting that guy.’ ”

14 Defendants

Mr. Wind, Mr. Koon, Mr. Powell and Officer Briseno are among 14 current and former police officers, along with their former Chief, Daryl F. Gates, who are being sued by Mr. King for punitive damages in the beating on March 3, 1991.

All four officers were acquitted of assault charges in a state trial in April 1992; the verdict led to riots that left more than 50 people dead. Mr. Koon and Mr. Powell were later convicted in a Federal trial of violating Mr. King’s civil rights and are serving 30-month prison terms.

Mr. Koon and Mr. Powell were fired from the force after their felony convictions. Mr. Wind was fired immediately after the beating because he was a rookie officer without tenure. Officer Briseno, who like Mr. Wind was acquitted in both criminal trials, remains on unpaid leave pending a police department hearing. All the officers are white; Mr. King is black.

Although their lawyers say the officers have been financially broken by all the litigation, Mr. King’s lawyer, Milton Grimes, said he believed their combined net worth exceeded $1 million, an estimate the jury must decide. It must also rule on Officer Briseno’s countersuit against Mr. King, in which he contends that Mr. King injured him while Officer Briseno was trying to handcuff him.

Mr. Wind, the only one of the four officers who had never taken the stand, testified in a quiet, sure voice. On the videotape of the 81-second beating, Mr. Wind, who was in training with Mr. Powell, is seen following him somewhat tentatively as he circles the mostly prone Mr. King. Sergeant’s Order

In testimony, Mr. Wind said he struck Mr. King 9 or 10 times with his baton and kicked him six times after hearing his sergeant order, “Hit him! Hit him!” It was the first time such an order had been described by a witness or a participant in the beating. During the Federal trial, Mr. Koon took full responsibility for the actions of his officers.

Mr. Wind told the racially mixed jury of seven women and three men that he had been taught in the police training academy to obey superiors’ orders without question.

“Unless that order is unlawful you have to obey it?” asked his lawyer, Russell Cole.

“Yes,” Mr. Wind said.

Mr. Wind said that during the arrest he had been overwhelmed by Mr. King’s strength. “At times,” he said, “I remember thinking, ‘Jesus, this baton isn’t working. He keeps trying to get up.’ “