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Stacey Koon

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Stacey Koon was a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant.  He is the author of Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune said Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair is “a compelling, thoroughly documented, well-reported story--one that challenges readers to probe deeply into their own feelings about justice, racism, violence, police brutality, and media coverage.”

One reader of Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair said, “The crux of this account is Stacey Koon's observation that when ALL of the evidence (and not just a few seconds of videotape, punctuated by activist oratory) was lawfully presented to a trial jury, and explained in a reasonable fashion, the jury determined that the officers were not guilty of the primary crime with which they had been charged. Everything after that was society's emotional reaction based upon irresponsible media inflammatory over-dosage.”

One reader of Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair said, “An excellent well-written defense of the infamous police who beat Rodney King. Koon, of course, was the Sgt. in charge at the scene, so he can hardly be considered to be an unbiased source. He makes his case with some skill, and he is able to present himself successfully as a sympathetic character. He points out that most of those who condemn him out of hand really have no idea what went on that night. He lays his defense out carefully and goes point by point explaining his own thinking and his perception of what happened. Koon emphasizes his belief that King was on PCP and his contention that if the police had been able to employ a chokehold the whole incident would never have occurred. He also takes a few well aimed shots at his old boss, the controversial Police Chief Darrel Gates... He also makes a deft attack on the media's evident bias against him, and ruefully points out that the media's `public person' defense of their actions was self created since they made Koon a `public person'. He also rightly points out that the Federal Case was double jeopardy. One need not be convinced by the argument to appreciate the importance of the book. The picture on the back with Koon looking sorrowful and sheepish though, is a bit much.”


Presumed Guilty : The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair
Stacey Koon  More Info

One reader of Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair said, “It is a shame this book is out of print and that is wasn't given much publicity. It is a fast read and eye opening to the side of the story that the media kept from the public. I recommend it highly.”

The Los Angeles Police Department said of the aftermath of the Simi Valley trial, “Not since the 1965 Watts riots in south-central Los Angeles has the Department been confronted with the magnitude of violence that erupted on April 29, 1992, just hours after a Simi Valley jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the Rodney King trial.

Fifty-two people lost their lives when violent mobs raged through widely separated areas of the City. Rioters pulled motorists from their cars and beat them, attacked police, smashed shop windows, looted gun, and liquor stores of their stock then set them afire.

 

When it was over, some 2,500 people had been injured and an estimated $1 billion in property had been damaged.”

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