The Verdict's Aftermath

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Ex-L.A. police chief Daryl Gates said it made him "sad." Stacey Koon's lawyer said his client had been made a "sacrificial animal." Some community leaders felt that only four-out-of-four convictions could right the imbalance created when Rodney King was beaten bloody, and Jesse Jackson noted, "We have been given a pause, not a plan." But after the verdict in the second King trial was read early Saturday morning, most voices raised were ones of relief and approval. President Clinton stated that the King panel had "really tried to do justice." His Attorney General, Janet Reno, simplified: "Justice was done." And near the intersection of Florence and Normandie, the South Central epicenter of last year's riots, a man exulted. "We're going to barbecue," he said. "We're going to relax. We can enjoy ourselves now."