LAPD Successfully Defended Police Chokeholds at the Supreme Court. Now, the State and the Nation Are Paying the Price. At 2 a.m. on October 6, 1976, LAPD pulled over Adolph Lyons, a 24-year-old Black driver, for a burnt-out tail light. Four white officers, guns drawn, ordered him to spread his legs and put his hands on his head. Lyons, unarmed, did not resist. Nevertheless, an officer put him in a chokehold so tight Lyons lost consciousness. He woke up on the ground, his underwear soiled, spitting blood and dirt. The…