Page "Jury trial" Paragraph 37

Another issue with jury trials is the potential for jurors to be swayed by prejudice, including racial considerations.

An infamous case was the 1992 trial in the Rodney King case in California, in which white police officers were acquitted of excessive force in the violent beating of a black man by a jury consisting mostly of whites without any black jurors, with a video tape showing King continuing to try to get up despite the beating.

There was racist questioning about the case and riots ensued.

Contrary to the legal principle of " no double jeopardy ," after the officers were acquitted, the government renamed the crime and tried the officers a second time for the same event and got a conviction from a jury with black jurors.