Serving Justice a Blow

APPEALING FOR CALM DURING LAST MAY'S LOS ANgeles riots, President Bush promised that "justice will be served" in the cases of four L.A. policemen acquitted of most charges in the beating of Rodney King. Subsequently the Justice Department filed federal civil rights charges against the L.A. cops.

Now Justice officials admit their case has been dealt a serious blow, possibly by someone in their own ranks. A document laying out the prosecution's strategy -- including a discussion of weaknesses in the government case -- was sent to a defense lawyer.

The disclosure may have been an accident, but Justice has launched a criminal inquiry. Prosecutors insist their cause is not lost and continue to prepare for the trial, set for February 1993.