Suspects in Beating Yet to See Funds for Defense : Denny case: Supporters of men charged in attack on truck driver are concerned that people may raise money for their own purposes. No evidence of wrongdoing exists.

Community fund-raising efforts to pay for the legal defense of four suspects accused in the April 29 attack on truck driver Reginald O. Denny have been churning away for several weeks, but family members and lawyers representing the suspects say they have yet to see a penny.

In part, that is because the leading fund-raising campaign--sponsored by Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and endorsed by several of the lawyers and family members--has just started. But the defendants’ supporters also worry that other groups and individuals may be using the high-profile case to raise money for their own purposes, although no evidence of wrongdoing has surfaced.

“If they’ve raised any money at all, it hasn’t gotten to me,” said Earl Brodie, the lawyer representing Henry Keith (Kiki) Watson. “I don’t even know how they’re doing.”

Seville Colston, whose husband had adopted one of the defendants, Antoine Eugene (Twan) Miller, said they have not received any help, either: “Not one penny,” she said.

That frustration was echoed by other lawyers and family members, and some urged tighter coordination on the fund raising to ensure that the money is used for legal and investigative expenses. Several supporters of the suspects suggested that the fund drives--no one can say for sure how many exist, but many said they have heard of at least three or four--should be consolidated into a single effort to prevent individuals from raising money for themselves under the guise of helping the suspects.

So far, only the fund-raising drive sponsored by Bethel A.M.E. Church has invited lawyers and family members of the suspects to participate in its meetings, and several of them on Thursday urged donors to give to that organization.

“The Bethel A.M.E. Church has a pretty thorough accounting system, and they have our full support,” said Fred Sebastian, a spokesman for the Center for Constitutional Law and Justice, which is representing Damian Monroe (Football) Williams. “Anyone who is solicited, we recommend that they call Rev. Edgar Boyd at Bethel A.M.E.”

Bethel A.M.E. holds weekly meetings to update the status of its fund raising, which has raised a little more than $1,000. The church hopes to sponsor a benefit concert for the suspects and said it will soon begin forwarding the money. Bethel A.M.E. said it makes copies of all checks and has opened its books to public inspection.

Three suspects--Watson, Miller and Williams--have been charged with attempted murder, mayhem, torture and robbery in connection with the beating of Denny and other motorists who were attacked near the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues in the opening hours of the Los Angeles riots. A fourth suspect, Gary A. Williams, has been charged with robbing Denny after he was beaten.

Bail has been set for all four suspects, but none have posted it, so all are in County Jail. They are scheduled to appear for pretrial hearings Wednesday.

Although the suspects have been vilified and characterized as gang members by police and prosecutors, there is great sympathy for them in the neighborhood near where the beating occurred. They have been dubbed “the Los Angeles Four” and “the Rebellion Four.”

Although lawyers and family members praised the Bethel A.M.E. fund-raising effort, they expressed skepticism about other drives. Unlike the careful accounting that Bethel A.M.E. has in place, exact numbers are harder to come by for some other efforts.

Celes A. King, chairman of the state chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, said he is helping to coordinate a fund-raising drive by his group. But he said he did not know how much money has been raised. None of it, he said, has been distributed.

According to King, the money is being deposited in a Congress of Racial Equality legal defense fund account, separate from the nonprofit group’s regular account. He said he tried to determine the balance earlier this week, but did not have the account number with him and therefore could not check it.

Although King conceded that there have been some concerns registered about the fund-raising efforts, he said, “we’re as legit as you can get.”

He pledged to monitor the money carefully and noted that, as a nonprofit organization, its books are subject to government audit.

“There’s a history of people starting this kind of thing and then ending up in Switzerland,” King said. “I’m extremely concerned that there be full disclosure.”

The Nation of Islam also has established a fund, but lawyers for several defendants say they have seen no accounting of that money. Nation of Islam leaders at that organization’s Chicago headquarters were unavailable for comment.

In Los Angeles, representatives of the group referred calls to Khallid Abdul Muhammad, a national assistant to Louis Farrakhan, but he was unavailable.

In addition to those fund-raising efforts, several residents in the neighborhood near Florence and Normandie say that they have been approached by people soliciting money for defense funds. It is not clear who is behind those funds or how that money is being used.

What is clear, according to the lawyers and families, is that they have not received any money yet. And without some coordination and oversight, many are concerned that it will end up being used unwisely.

“I want to see this carefully monitored,” said J. Patrick Maginnis, Miller’s lawyer. “I don’t want somebody to say later that these funds were used for parties or something.”