"I'M READY TO GET THIS STARTED," PRONOUNCED Laurence M. Powell, one of four . Los Angeles police officers accused of violating the civil rights of black motorist Rodney G. King. "We have to get it started to get it over with." Seven months after they were indicted by a federal grand jury and two years after King's infamous videotaped beating, Powell and his co-defendants finally began their day in federal court.
Opening statements by attorneys and the order of three dozen prosecution witnesses expected to testify over the next six to eight weeks suggest that the jurors will still be deciding...