Ex-Prosecutor Selected as New Judge in Denny Case : Courts: Garcetti, expected winner in D.A. race, says he would consider a plea bargain by defendants in beating.

A low-key, highly regarded former prosecutor who once worked as a police officer was assigned Monday to preside over the case of three men charged with attacking truck driver Reginald O. Denny and other motorists during the opening hours of last spring’s riots.

In a related development, district attorney candidate Gil Garcetti--who is expected to win election next month because incumbent Ira Reiner has withdrawn from the race--told reporters and editors of The Times that he would consider a plea bargain if it would appropriately resolve the case. Defense lawyers were surprised and gratified by that suggestion, and said they would be willing to meet with Garcetti to discuss it.

Meanwhile, more than two months of wrangling over the assignment of a judge to preside over the case ended when it was sent to Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk.

“He’s highly qualified, very intelligent,” said lawyer James R. Gillen, who had objected to the appointment of Superior Court Judge John Reid. “Reid is certainly a fit judge, but I had questions about his personality. I’m very pleased by the assignment to Judge Ouderkirk.”

Prosecutors were more sparing in their remarks, but said they were pleased to see the case back on track since the dispute over a judge has delayed the proceedings since August. Defendants Antoine Eugene Miller, Damian Monroe (Football) Williams and Henry Keith (Kiki) Watson are charged with attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, torture and robbery in the attack on Denny, as well as with a variety of other crimes for attacks on motorists at Florence and Normandie avenues.

Originally, lawyers had expected the case to come to trial this fall, but a protracted debate erupted in August when the case was first assigned. It was sent to Judge Roosevelt F. Dorn, who is black, but prosecutors used their right of peremptory challenge to remove him from the case.

Defense attorneys then exercised their challenge to remove a white judge, and the case was sent to Reid, a white former prosecutor whose impartiality and temperament Gillen questioned. Under normal circumstances, a group of defense lawyers are entitled to a single challenge, but if they can show that the interests of their clients are substantially different, they may be entitled to an additional challenge.

Gillen argued that Miller is prepared to testify that he is innocent but that the other two defendants are guilty. The result, Gillen said, is that the three men have substantially different defenses.

A state appellate court last week agreed and ordered the Superior Court to let Gillen exercise an additional challenge, which he used to remove Reid. Acting Supervising Judge Lance A. Ito then assigned the case to Ouderkirk.

Ouderkirk’s assignment clears the way for pretrial hearings to begin this week. But Garcetti’s comments Monday afternoon raised for the first time the possibility that prosecutors may be willing to settle the case out of court.

Garcetti told Times reporters and editors that he is concerned that the case could create “an explosive situation” and pledged to explore a plea bargain.

“If there is a way to avoid a trial, where I can hold my head high in the African-American community, in the Anglo community, or any community, I’ll look at that,” Garcetti said.

He did not elaborate on what type of agreement he would seek, saying only that it would have to be an appropriate resolution to the case.

Watson’s lawyer, Earl C. Broady, said that he believes the charges in the Denny assault are excessive. Without conceding that Watson was at the scene of the incident, Broady said he would consider a plea agreement that reduced the charges to assault.

Even as defense lawyers and prosecutors jockeyed for advantage, another potentially disruptive problem surfaced.

Frederick George Celani, whose North Hollywood law firm represented defendant Williams for several months, Monday provided The Times with two tape-recorded statements in which he claims that he and his firm intentionally tried to “sabotage” their client’s defense.

Celani was arrested last week in Arkansas and is facing federal wire fraud charges. He made the recorded statements while in jail. On both tapes Celani claims he was working as an agent for the federal government and was assigned to subvert Williams’ defense efforts.

“It’s very, very important that (people) understand that it was our job to get Damian as a defendant so that we could sabotage the defense,” said Celani. “That’s what we were supposed to do.”

Celani also claims that Williams was drugged while in police custody and that the riots were fomented by federal agents.

Although several lawyers and police officers familiar with the case dismissed most of Celani’s comments as a mixture of incoherent rambling and outright lies, some lawyers added that if Celani intentionally undercut Williams’ defense, he could have so prejudiced the case that it could be grounds for a new preliminary hearing or dismissal of some charges.

Celani’s firm, the Center for Constitutional Law and Justice, represented Williams throughout his arraignments and his preliminary hearing. That hearing ended with Williams being bound over for trial on 17 felony counts, including the four counts related to the attack on Denny.

“This is stunning,” said lawyer Edi M.O. Faal, who represents Williams, after listening to a portion of Celani’s statements. “We will certainly do our own inquiry into whether there has been some sabotage.”

Dennis Palmieri, a lawyer who worked for the center and represented Williams until he was fired by the center in August, alleged in a 22-page statement written two months ago that Celani--who used the name Fred Sebastian until he was arrested last week--ordered him not to pursue the Williams case vigorously.

“Over the course of several months representing Damian Williams, Mr. Sebastian has repeatedly expressed precisely and definitively that Mr. Damian Williams belonged in jail,” Palmieri said in his statement. “Sebastian stated that Damian could spend the rest of his life in jail for all he cared, that Mr. Williams was guilty, that he did not care if Damian died or got his head chopped off.”

Palmieri’s credibility also is in question. He claims on his resume that his ideas helped lead to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the fall of communism. But coupled with Celani’s latest comments, the allegation that Williams has been denied competent representation appears far from settled.

“If there is any evidence that they were sabotaging the defense, that would have a profound effect on all the proceedings prior to our entry into the case,” said Wilma Shanks, who is now representing Williams. “Damian Williams would be entitled to a new preliminary hearing.”

Times staff writer Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this report.