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| Reuters – Rodney King leaves the courthouse in Edinburg, Pennsylvannia in this May 30, 1995 file photo. King was … |
Rodney King Case: Where Are They Now?
Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the taped beatings of Los Angeles resident Rodney King. He was caught speeding on the 210 freeway and he led officers on a high-speed chase. Several officers were caught on videotape by a nearby resident beating King while he was on the ground.
Where are the key figures in the beating now? Here's a look at where these people are today, 20 years after the beating.
Rodney King
Rodney King, now 46, was interviewed by Time magazine 15 years after the beating in 2006. He was working for a construction company at the time and spends time with his granddaughter. In 2007, King was shot with a pellet gun within two miles of his home in Rialto, Calif. When officers showed up at his house, the man was intoxicated according to the Los Angeles Times. King made appearances on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" but allegedly still has substance-abuse problems in an article posted to RadarOnline.
Police Sgt. Stacey Koon
Stacey Koon was the superior officer at the scene of King's beating. He is 60 years old, living comfortably in California off the proceeds of his book, "Presumed Guilty," which he wrote in 1992. He was acquitted in the original trial but was convicted in 1993 of federal civil rights violations. He spent 30 months in prison and was released in 1995. Koon has been staying out of the public eye ever since.
Laurence Powell
Laurence Powell was one of the four officers on the scene arrested for the beating of King. He was found guilty in the federal civil rights trial and spent 30 months in jail for his actions. He has two children and is currently 48 years old. He retired from police work after getting out of jail.
Theodore Briseno
Theodore Briseno was another of the four men arrested for assaulting King. He was acquitted in the original trial and the federal civil rights trial. Since the trials ended, Briseno has worked security jobs as he never found work on a police force again.
Timothy Wind
Timothy Wind was also tried and acquitted twice in the King beating case. He was fired from the force in 1994. Wind eventually served as a community service officer in Culver City, Calif., and has remained out of the public eye since the trials.
George Holliday
George Holliday was famous for taping the beating and he sold his footage to a local television station. He's now 50 and works for a plumbing company. Holliday has tried to keep his life mostly private; he's suffered through two divorces thanks in part to his fame immediately after the beating was videotaped.
Judge Stanley Weisberg
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg oversaw the original jury trial that saw four not-guilty verdicts placed upon the officers at the scene. Weisberg retired from the bench in 2008 at the age of 64 and serving more than 20 years. He presided over another high-profile case before the King beating, that of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their parents.
Reginald Denny
Reginald Denny became the face of the aftermath of the trial of the officers. He was a truck driver who was pulled from his rig forcefully by four black youths and savagely beaten. Denny's beating was also caught on tape as a circling news helicopter witnessed the event. He is now 57 and is a boat mechanic in Arizona. After suffering severe brain damage from having his skull fractured by a cinder block, Denny needed years of rehabilitation. He attempted to sue the city of Los Angeles for damages and was unsuccessful.
