Curtain Closes on the King Case : With final court ruling made, ex-Sgt. Koon is free--and rich

The Rodney King beating case, four years after it set off civil strife that tore the city apart, appears to be finished--in court, anyway--and an exhausted Los Angeles barely seems to have noticed.

In March 1991, Los Angeles Police Department officers were captured on videotape beating King, who had initially refused to pull over after a traffic infraction. A state court acquitted former Sgt. Stacey Koon and three other police officers a year later and Los Angeles was engulfed by riots.

In 1993, Koon and Laurence Powell were convicted of civil rights violations in federal court. They served 30-month prison terms, which the prosecution argued were far too short under federal sentencing guidelines. U. S. District Judge John G. Davies, who heard the federal case, was reversed on two sentencing criteria.

Nevertheless, Davies on Thursday refused to return the two men to prison. The judge also refused to impose mandatory fines that neither had been ordered to pay when convicted because they were destitute.

Only now, they are not broke. This is particularly true of Koon, because of national fund-raising efforts to pay his legal expenses and the debts of his family. By some estimates a defense fund set up for him and a trust fund set up for his family have raised at least $8.8 million, which is more than the $3.8 million King was awarded in his lawsuit against the city.

How much Koon will actually pocket has not been made public--but it’s quite likely more than he would have made had he obeyed the law and kept his job.

Hmm. Let’s not make that one of the lessons learned as a legal chapter apparently closes on one of Los Angeles’ most horrific episodes.