LOCAL : Man Cleared in Canoga Park Slaying

A man accused of helping plan the 1985 revenge slaying of an off-duty police detective was acquitted today of a murder charge, but still faces a possible conspiracy conviction. Reecey Cooper, 34, of South Central Los Angeles, was found innocent of the murder charge by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury, which continued deliberating a charge against him of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The jury was also deliberating murder and conspiracy charges against a co-defendant, Duane Moody, 31. The charges stem from the revenge-murder of Thomas Williams, a Los Angeles police detective, who was gunned down on Oct. 31, 1985, as he came to pick up his 6-year-old son at a Canoga Park day-care center. The child escaped injury.