ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140043
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: Associated Press
A U.S. Supreme Court decision Thursday will force Los Angeles to revisit the painful Rodney King beating case, but two former police officers probably won't have to serve any more time in prison.
The justices voted unanimously to set aside an appeals court ruling that could have meant former Los Angeles policemen Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell would have to serve as many as 57 more months.
The high court, instead, returned the case to U.S. District Judge John Davies to reconsider the validity of giving both ex-officers stiffer sentences.
In so doing, the high court also provided federal judges with new latitude to use their discretion under sentencing guidelines that were aimed at yielding greater consistency nationwide. Many judges and defense lawyers have contended that the guidelines often result in sentences that are too harsh.
The court said Davies must exclude impermissible factors he considered the first time around, such as the fact that the officers had lost their jobs and had a low risk of committing such a crime again.
Davies is expected to schedule a hearing this summer.
Koon and Powell both served 30-month sentences and were released late last year. The judge could have sent both men to prison for between 70 and 87 months for violating King's civil rights.
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