Denny Was Nearly Killed in Attack, Doctor Testifies

A surgeon who treated Reginald O. Denny after he was attacked by a mob at Florence and Normandie avenues testified Tuesday that the truck driver had been nearly killed by his assailants.

Dr. Paul Toffel compared Denny’s injuries to those a person would suffer in a high-speed automobile accident without a seat belt. Denny’s skull was broken into roughly 100 fragments, and he would have died within minutes if four Good Samaritans had not rescued him, Toffel said.

Toffel’s testimony came on the third day of a preliminary hearing for three suspects charged in the attacks on Denny and other motorists during the opening hours of the rioting in Los Angeles.

“He would have died in the field,” Toffel said of Denny, responding to a question from Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence C. Morrison.

In addition, Toffel said, Denny has nearly died several times since the attack as doctors have battled a series of complications ranging from swelling in his head and neck that threatened to cut off his breathing, to blood clots that have invaded his lungs. Denny still suffers from neurological problems and has difficulty organizing thoughts and forming words, Toffel said.

The doctor’s testimony, which lasted for more than two hours, was intended to show that the attack on Denny represented an attempted murder, not merely an assault, prosecutors said. Three defendants--Damian Monroe (Football) Williams, Henry Keith (Kiki) Watson and Antoine Eugene Miller--are charged with attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, torture and robbery in the attack on Denny.

They also face lesser charges of crimes against other victims, although two counts against Watson in connection with an attack on a fire crew were dropped Tuesday.

As defense lawyer Alaleh Kamran played a videotape of the Denny attack for Toffel, the doctor acknowledged that a videotape of the attack shows several blows to the right side of the head, where a near-fatal blood clot developed. But he added that he believes that the most damaging blow came from a brick that hit Denny in the right side of the face as he was on his knees.

Prosecutors allege that Williams threw that brick, and one witness identified him as the brick thrower in testimony Monday. Williams admitted in a tape-recorded interview with police that he hit Denny with a rock, but that interview has not yet been played in court. Williams’ lawyers have said they believe the statement was improperly obtained by police.

Three of the four victims who testified Tuesday said they had been knocked unconscious during the attacks and therefore only had partial memories of the incidents. The fourth, Alicia Maldonado Doby, said that her car was pelted with bottles and other projectiles, but that she sped out of the intersection as fast as she could drive and could not identify her assailants.

Another victim, Larry Tarvin, was pulled from his panel truck, kicked and hit with a fire extinguisher. He suffered a broken rib, and said Tuesday that he continues to have problems with numbness in one leg.

None of the victims who have testified say they can recall who attacked them. Some of the defendants’ supporters, who gather daily for the hearing, say they are becoming convinced that the prosecution has no credible witnesses. Prosecutors deny that and say they will produce witnesses and statements positively identifying the suspects.

The only person who has identified the three suspects in court is helicopter reporter Robert A. Tur, and supporters of the defendants accuse him of bias.

“I don’t think they have enough to hold Damian,” said Williams’ mother, Georgiana Williams. “All they’ve got is the reporter, and he’s prejudiced.”

However, James Gillen, one of Miller’s attorneys, said he believes that while very little evidence ties his client to the crimes against Denny, the other defendants may have a more difficult time. None of the videotapes introduced so far show Miller striking any victims, but the men alleged to be Watson and Williams are pictured in several of the attacks, including the one on Denny.

“There is no evidence of attempted murder, mayhem or torture against Mr. Miller,” Gillen said. “In regard to the other defendants, I think they’ve got some problems. I think they’re probably going to be bound over.”