Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP)_Rodney King's lawyer moved for a mistrial Wednesday in King's lawsuit against the city after jurors said a juror in a different case confronted them at lunch and accused them of "wasting taxpayers' money."

U.S. District Judge John Davies denied the motion after he spent an hour quizzing each juror about the incident.

"These people have the intelligence and desire to put this incident behind them and treat it for what it was, an encounter with a discourteous person," Davies said.

Six jurors said they were pointed out at a restaurant by jurors from a state Superior Court case. That court is in a building a few blocks away from the federal court where King's civil lawsuit is being heard.

They said one man pointed them out and said: "Those are Rodney King jurors. Don't they know they're wasting taxpayers' money."

The King jurors took the name of the disgruntled juror, his judge and his and companion jurors' badge numbers. Davies said he alerted the other judge.

"There was anger," one of the King jurors said. "They seemed to be either frustrated or aggravated." She said the remark seemed to ripple through the crowd and others turned to look at them.

King's attorney Milton Grimes, worried the incident could affect the verdict, noted that jurors have been kept anonymous and wondered how they were identified. That question was never answered.

In addition to knowing that three days of rioting erupted after four police officers were acquitted of state charges in the beating, Grimes said, the jurors "know now that they've been identified and they've been approached with anger by other citizens."

He said jurors might now be unwilling to give King a large award for fear that taxpayers will judge them harshly.

Davies said he would seek additional security for jurors during their breaks.

The city has conceded liability for the March 3, 1991 police beating of King. Two officers were convicted of violating King's civil rights at a federal trial and are serving 30-month prison terms.

The two-phase trial is being held to determine compensatory damages owed by the city and punitive damages that could be levied against individuals. Compensatory damages cover actual financial loss; punitive damages are aimed at punishing a wrongdoer and deterring such conduct in the future. Read Next Article