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Stacey Cornell Koon (born November 23, 1950) was a Sergeant
Sergeant

Sergeant is a Military rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
 with the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the city of Los Angeles, California, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 female staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is the fifth largest law enforcement agency in the United States ....
. Sergeant Koon has a bachelor's degree and master's degree in criminal justice from Califorinia State University in Los Angeles, and a second master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Rodney King
Rodney King

Rodney Glen King is an African-American man who, on March 3, 1991, was the victim in an excessive force case committed by Los Angeles Police Department....
 incident
On 3 March 1991 a high speed chase was initiated by CHP officer Melaine Singer, after suspect King was observed behind the wheel of a 1988 white Hyundai Excel traveling at a high rate of speed the high speed chase ended on the right shoulder of Foothill Boulevard.






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Stacey Cornell Koon (born November 23, 1950) was a Sergeant
Sergeant

Sergeant is a Military rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
 with the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the city of Los Angeles, California, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 female staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is the fifth largest law enforcement agency in the United States ....
. Sergeant Koon has a bachelor's degree and master's degree in criminal justice from Califorinia State University in Los Angeles, and a second master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Rodney King
Rodney King

Rodney Glen King is an African-American man who, on March 3, 1991, was the victim in an excessive force case committed by Los Angeles Police Department....
 incident


On 3 March 1991 a high speed chase was initiated by CHP officer Melaine Singer, after suspect King was observed behind the wheel of a 1988 white Hyundai Excel traveling at a high rate of speed the high speed chase ended on the right shoulder of Foothill Boulevard. Koon and four other officers - Laurence Powell
Laurence Powell

Laurence Michael Powell is a former Los Angeles Police officer. He was one of the four officers involved in the beating of Rodney King on March 3, 1991....
, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseño and Rolando Solano - attempted to arrest Rodney King
Rodney King

Rodney Glen King is an African-American man who, on March 3, 1991, was the victim in an excessive force case committed by Los Angeles Police Department....
. The officers stated that King resisted arrest and Officers Powell and Wind and Briseño had to use force to subdue him. The incident was videotaped by nearby resident, George Holliday, who sold it to local TV station KTLA
KTLA

KTLA, channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of The CW Television Network....
. The station aired parts of the video and CNN
CNN

Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
 aired it the next day. The police officers were tried for abuse of force in state court in Simi Valley
Simi Valley

The Simi Valley is an anticline valley in Southern California in the United States. It is an enclosed or hidden valley surrounded by mountains and hills....
 in 1992 and acquitted. In 1993, the four officers were tried in a federal court in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
; Koon and Powell were convicted of violating King's civil rights and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The initial sentencing of officers Powell and Koon was appealed to the United States Supreme Court on the issue of whether the Federal District Court properly applied departures from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are rules that set out a uniform Sentence policy for convicted felons in the United States federal courts system....
, in Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81
Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
 (1996). Ultimately, the Court affirmed the lower court and allowed the officers' sentences to be significantly reduced due to four factors: King's own provocation, the officers' susceptibility to abuse in prison, their successive prosecutions in state and federal courts, and the unlikelihood of them repeating the same crime, as any felony conviction rendered both of them ineligible for law enforcement employment.

Koon served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution
Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin

The Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin is a Federal Bureau of Prisons prison for women in the United States. It is located near the city of Dublin, California in Alameda County, California, California, southeast of Oakland, California and approximately east of San Francisco....
 in Dublin, California
Dublin, California

Dublin is a suburban city of the East Bay of Alameda County, California, United States. It is located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection with Interstate 680 , roughly east of Hayward, California, 6 miles west of Livermore, California and north of San Jose, California....
, and the Federal Work Camp
Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan

Federal Correctional Institution Sheridan is a federal prison operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Sheridan, Oregon, Oregon, United States....
 in Sheridan, Oregon
Sheridan, Oregon

Sheridan is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, Oregon, United States. The population was 3,570 at the 2000 census. The 2006 estimate is 5,785 residents....
. He was released on 15 October 1995. A person with a weapon wished to kill Koon in the halfway house in November 1995, but Koon was away for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October....
.

Before his release, Koon unsuccessfully attempted suicide. He became ineligible as a convicted felon to serve on any police force and is now a part-time paralegal assistant and a "house husband." He currently resides in Castaic, California
Castaic, California

Castaic, California and area code 661 is an unincorporated area community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies north of Santa Clarita in Castaic Canyon, a few miles from the Santa Clarita Valley and Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park....
.

Presumed Guilty

In his book, Koon claims that:

  • A chokehold
    Chokehold

    A chokehold or stranglehold is a grappling hold that strangling the opponent, and leads to unconsciousness or even death. Chokeholds are practiced and used in martial arts, combat sports, self-defense, law-enforcement and in military hand to hand combat application....
     would have been the most effective way to subdue King, but the LAPD did not allow it to be used.


  • He and the other three officers were "swarming" King, a tactic regularly used by the Los Angeles Police Department
    Los Angeles Police Department

    The Los Angeles Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the city of Los Angeles, California, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 female staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is the fifth largest law enforcement agency in the United States ....
     to intimidate a suspect into submission without seriously injuring him. They would have used a chokehold if permitted.


  • King's injuries were minor. His fractured cheekbone healed within a week, and his "broken leg" was a hairline fracture which initially went unnoticed. Koon writes, "[it] was remarkable that Rodney King hadn't been hurt worse than he was. Our use of force was unusually powerful."


  • The videotape did not show King's initial provocation.


  • King appeared to be on PCP
    Phencyclidine

    Phencyclidine , also known as angel dust, is a dissociative drug formerly used as an anesthesia agent, exhibiting hallucinogenic and neurotoxic effects....
    . Although Koon tased
    Taser

    A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "Neuromuscular junction incapacitation" and device's mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology" ....
     him twice, it seemed to have no effect, and he repeatedly appeared to threaten the officers. King's toxicology results tested negative for PCP.


  • Koon and the other officers were "presumed guilty" by police chief Daryl Gates
    Daryl Gates

    Daryl Francis Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978 until 1992....
    , who played politics instead of supporting the case of the officers. Such an indecisive position by the chief led directly to the riots. Gates lost the support of subordinate police officers and left the department soon after.