Will King Hold Up on the Stand? : Police: New questions are being raised about the ability of the star witness to testify about the beating by officers.

As the trial approaches for four Los Angeles police officers charged with beating motorist Rodney G. King, new questions are being raised about the ability of the star witness--the victim himself--to testify.

During a brief courtroom appearance earlier this week, the 26-year-old King appeared dazed and had difficulty answering simple questions from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins.

King seemed equally confused during a recent meeting with prosecutors, according to a source close to the case. “We don’t know whether that’s a result of the beating,” the source said.

Despite some misgivings, prosecutors said this week they plan to call King as a witness. His name appears on a list of 42 prospective prosecution witnesses, and the deputy district attorneys handling the case subpoenaed him to court where the judge ordered him to be available within 24-hours’ notice once a jury is selected.

Late Wednesday, a state appeals court halted the trial--which had been scheduled to begin next Wednesday--saying it wants to review defense requests for a change of venue.

The order means that the trial will be delayed indefinitely, according to defense attorneys who got the news by telephone.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal stayed all proceedings “pending further order of the court,” and said it is considering an order requiring Kamins to move the trial to another county. Should the district attorney decide not to call King--regardless of when the trial gets under way--defense attorneys say they will.

“He is important to both sides,” explained attorney Patrick Thistle, who represents Officer Laurence Powell, one of four indicted officers facing trial. “A lot of what happens (in the trial) is going to depend on Rodney King.”

Thistle noted that only a portion of the March 3 beating incident in Lake View Terrace was videotaped, and King’s testimony is needed to ascertain exactly what preceded and prompted police to use force at the conclusion of a car chase through several miles of the northeast San Fernando Valley.

While King’s doctors were not available Wednesday to comment on his condition, his attorney said King will take the stand.

“We have to go for it,” said Steven Lerman. “He’s not going to miss it. He’ll do the very best he can.”

Lerman said King was traumatized earlier this week when he came face-to-face with his alleged attackers, even though the meeting took place in a tightly secured downtown courtroom, with television cameras rolling.

“He was shaking like a leaf,” Lerman said. “When I told him on the way there what to expect, he asked, ‘They are all going to be there?’ I told him, ‘Don’t be afraid, they can’t hurt you there.’ He is very paranoid.”

Lerman said King still suffers constant pain, experiences disturbing flashbacks, and walks with the aid of a cane as his broken leg heals. He regularly sees a psychiatrist and assorted specialists in ophthalmology and orthopedics, and must undergo physical therapy.

King has trouble concentrating, Lerman said, and will have to take frequent breaks during his upcoming testimony. Attorneys have said he could be questioned on the stand for as long as a week.

Lerman acknowledged that King could invoke his medical and psychological condition to avoid testifying. But he said that however traumatic the coming weeks may be for the beating victim, he intends to tell the jury what happened.

“Testifying is part of the catharsis, the healing process,” Lerman said. “The fact that he lived (through the beating) shows he is tough.

“He wants to see these officers punished so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Rodney King always wanted to be one thing--not the first, but the last one they beat.”

The lawyer added, that after filing a federal lawsuit and a multimillion-dollar claim against the city, “he can’t very well not testify at the criminal trial and then show up at the civil rights proceedings asking for money.”

In the criminal trial, defense attorneys say they want to ask King about a number of statements he has made. After the incident, King said he did not believe the beating was racially motivated; later, however, he claimed to have heard racial epithets but said he had been wary of saying so. King is black; the police officers charged with assault and excessive force are white.

Defense attorneys say they have not spoken with King, but believe that the district attorney intends to call him as a witness.

“I have no statements from him, and nobody I know (with the defense) has talked with him,” said lawyer John Barnett, who represents Officer Theodore Briseno.

Prosecutors have had slightly more success in interviewing him.

Lerman said he believes that King’s personality has split as a psychological defense against what he experienced:

“He doesn’t know who Rodney King is, the Rodney King the public has created . . . the Rodney King he sees being beaten by police on the video, the Rodney King behind (Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F.) Gates’ troubles is a different person, who has nothing to do with him personally. There’s a detachment process.

“Then it (the reality that he is that person hogtied on the pavement) comes back, and it’s painful when he confronts it.”

Meanwhile, the appeals court asked prosecutors or the trial judge to respond by June 24 as to whether political issues surrounding the case could interfere with the officers’ right to a fair trial here. The defense then has until July 12 to file its response.

Reached at home Wednesday night, Kamins declined comment on the decision.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment, saying only, “We are confident that the defendants can receive a fair trial in Los Angeles County by a Los Angeles County jury.”