A policeman who testified against fellow officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King no longer believes they used excessive force, his lawyer says.
Police Officer Theodore Briseno's attorney Harland Braun also filed a motion asking a judge to bar Briseno's videotaped state trial testimony from the officers' federal civil rights trial. Briseno had testified the other officers were "out of control."Briseno now believes his statements are inadmissible in federal court because they amount to "opinion and speculation," Braun said.
Braun's remarks were reported in The Los Angeles Daily Journal Friday.
The testimony could help prosecutors support their charge that the four officers used excessive force and intentionally deprived King of his civil rights after a freeway pursuit on March 3, 1991.
Trial for Briseno, Sgt. Stacey Koon, and Officers Timothy Wind and Laurence Powell is set for Feb. 2.
Riots after the officers were acquitted of all but one state assault charge on April 29 killed 53 people and caused nearly $1 billion in damage.
In the state trial, Briseno said he tried to stop his fellow officers from beating King. Braun said Thursday that some jurors believed Briseno came across as insincere.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Clymer said Thursday he had not seen the motion, which was mailed to U.S. District Court on Wednesday, and could not comment.
Braun said Briseno changed his mind after reviewing the videotape and the evidence in the case.
"He basically feels, based on what he has seen now, he could not conscientiously testify that they were using excessive force," Braun said. "It's not as contradictory as it sounds. If you look closely at what he said in the state trial, he said, `I thought it was excessive, but I didn't see what Powell saw. I didn't know if Powell saw a gun or whatever."'