Symbolism Alters Image of Suspects in Denny Beating : Riots: Supporters say men accused of brutal attacks represent the legal system’s treatment of blacks.

To many who watched Reginald O. Denny dragged from his truck and beaten nearly to death during the Los Angeles riots, it is difficult to fathom the depth of support for the men accused of the brutal crime--or that there is talk of more unrest should the black defendants be convicted.

But the reality is that the case has moved well beyond the relevant criminal statutes and into the realm of symbolism, where issues of guilt and innocence have become intertwined with broader questions of how the justice system has treated African-Americans.

In the view of an increasingly vocal group of friends and activists, the suspects charged in the Denny attack are themselves victims--of racism, unreasonable bail and excessive criminal charges.

“They didn’t throw the book at these men, they threw the whole bookcase,” said supporter Naomi Sutton. “They (the defendants) have come to symbolize the entire rebellion,” added supporter Roland Freeman. “They could be my brother or my son.”

In a more subdued way, even moderate blacks who are appalled by the crime, which has come to represent the rage of the riots, have complained about the treatment of the suspects and say they empathize with the frustrations being vented on the street.

Operating under the banner of “Free the LA 4+”--a reference to the four men arrested May 12 and two others who have subsequently been charged--supporters have formed a tightly knit protest organization.

Court hearings are jammed with supporters, many of them bearing banners, buttons and T-shirts. Supporters have held rallies--including one that turned violent early this month--and have even established a 900 number for updates on the case.

Again and again, critics compare the treatment of the Denny defendants with the not guilty verdicts returned in the case of four white Los Angeles police officers charged with beating Rodney G. King and the light sentence given to the Korean-born grocer who shot and killed black teen-ager Latasha Harlins.

“We’re dealing with Rodney King and Latasha Harlins and all that,” said Mark Jackson, whose half-brother is defendant Damian Monroe Williams. “Blacks have gone through so much for so long. People have gotten to where they can’t take it. This time, they’re standing up.”

That sort of talk astounds and infuriates many in law enforcement.

“It’s amazing how people who have not even seen the evidence can possibly make these individuals out to be heroes,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence C. Morrison said. “These people seized upon a moment and used it to attack a whole series of victims. It saddens me that anyone could view them as heroes for that.”

Although the largest outpouring of support for the defendants has come from within the city’s African-American community, it has been tempered by a deep sense of ambivalence. Many of those who deplore the attack on Denny at the same time say they understand the anger and rage that sparked the outburst.

“This is not a question of guilt or innocence; it’s an issue of justice,” said Kerman Maddox, a political consultant who lives in South Los Angeles. “But when you hear the words ‘justice will prevail,’ you have to wonder. You have to wonder how someone can make that statement when it comes to our community. There’s been such a chronology of injustice.”

Maddox is among those who specifically declines to call these suspects heroes. But he and others worry that the young men are being treated unfairly.

The LA 4+ Defense Committee has called the prosecution of the Florence and Normandie suspects a “political and unwarranted attack on our young men’s character” and has called for them to be released on their own recognizance so that they can prepare for their trial. It also has invited comparisons with the prosecution of the LAPD officers charged with beating King.

Some are wary of that comparison, however.

“The Reginald Denny case is being enlarged beyond the meaning it deserves,” said Melanie Lomax, an attorney and former police commissioner. “There has to be an effort to dissect what is going on here and not have blind support for a group of people that would not otherwise be there if the King officers had not been acquitted.”

There are pitfalls to be found in linking the Denny case with others, she added.

“The correct view is that the King officers should go to jail and those responsible for the Reginald Denny beating should also pay for their crime,” she said. “In my mind one doesn’t cancel out the other, and one does not condone the other.”

In fact, police, prosecutors and legal experts warn that equating the two cases is a slippery exercise with potentially grave consequences. Many police officers fear that some supporters of the suspects are prepared to stir unrest if the three principal suspects are convicted.

The volatility of the Denny case was evident Dec. 14, when an initially peaceful rally for the LA 4+ turned violent, with some demonstrators pelting cars with rocks and bottles and attempting to loot a gas station.

Members of the LA 4+ Defense Committee blamed police for provoking the unrest in an effort to show the public that the department, this time, would act swiftly in the event of a riot. Police and other witnesses said, however, that officers stepped in only after motorists were threatened.

“I am very scared of what’s going to come at the end of all this,” said one law enforcement official who is familiar with the case. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the supporters of these people are preparing to cause trouble if they are found guilty.”

As police brace for that possibility, law enforcement leaders should not be surprised that the Denny case continues to be argued in the streets, not just the courtroom. After all, it was then-Police Chief Daryl F. Gates who donned a bulletproof vest and personally arrested defendant Williams in early May.

Gates’ presence at the arrest was evidence of the Police Department’s anguish over its failure to rescue Denny from his attackers. But friends and neighbors of the suspects saw it as grandstanding, and they angrily objected.

In the ensuing months, other events have fueled suspicions in some quarters that police and prosecutors are overeager to convict these defendants. Critics say prosecutors piled on too many charges--the suspects face counts of attempted murder, aggravated mayhem and torture, each of which carries a possible life sentence.

Lawyer Earl C. Broady, who represents defendant Henry Keith Watson, says that the attack on Denny is more accurately characterized as assault, not torture. That view is widely shared among the suspects’ supporters.

“Where do they come up with torture?” said Don Jackson, a controversial former police officer and a member of the LA 4+ Defense Committee. “That’s ridiculous, and they know it.”

The serious charges carry a heavy bail, and that too has inflamed community passions. Bail for the principal suspects charged in the attack on Denny range from $250,000 to $580,000, and supporters of those men say that is unfairly high, especially in contrast to the $5,000 bail faced in their federal case by the four police officers charged with violating King’s civil rights.

“The court was trying to send a message by setting an unusually high bail,” said John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League. “The system works in theory for all people, but not in practice. One of the painful lessons to date is that if your face is black, there is a liability in obtaining fairness and true objectivity in the criminal justice system.”

Prosecutors and other authorities respond by noting that the police officers held steady jobs, had no criminal histories and a long record of appearing for their court dates. Moreover, they were accused of beating only one man; the defendants charged in connection with the attack on Denny also face charges that they beat and robbed other victims.

Those details are significant considerations in setting bail, but they are rarely mentioned in the literature produced on behalf of the LA 4+.

Two other developments have deeply angered those who object to the treatment of the Florence and Normandie defendants. In August, prosecutors used their right of peremptory challenge to remove a black judge assigned to hear the case. And, in October, the deputy director of the law firm that for a time represented Williams was arrested in Arkansas in an unrelated case and said he had been directed to seek out Williams as a client to subvert his defense.

Frederick Celani, who has used the name Fred Sebastian, made those allegations in a series of tape-recorded statements he sent to The Times. His remarks touched off an immediate uproar among the defendants’ supporters, many of whom were eager to accept his statement that he had taken orders from the federal government to sabotage Williams’ defense.

Celani turned out to be an ex-convict with a history of defrauding people. He is currently in custody on fraud charges unrelated to the Williams case, and his allegations of working for the federal government are disputed by the very people he says hired him.

Still, the allegations that he intentionally sabotaged Williams’ defense have stirred deep anger and suspicion among supporters of the accused.

Those feelings were further stoked by this month’s revelation that Los Angeles Police Officer Michael McMahan, who testified about the defendants’ alleged gang affiliations at their preliminary hearing, is under administrative investigation. As a result, prosecutors were forced to strike his testimony from consideration, possibly reducing the severity of the charges. The affair only served to reinforce the perception among prosecution critics that the defendants are being unjustly treated.

Newly elected County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said that, along with Celani’s “troubling” testimony, the series of mishaps surrounding the case suggests that a new preliminary hearing is in order, at least for Williams.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) goes further.

“The case has been tainted; it’s beyond just being tampered with,” she said. “Based on the bizarre revelations, the whole community is going to organize to ask the district attorney and the judge to dismiss the charges against Williams.”

There seems virtually no chance prosecutors would drop the case, given the intense public interest and the strength of the evidence. Among other things, Williams admitted to police he hit Denny with a rock, and defendant Antoine Eugene Miller has acknowledged he opened the door to Denny’s truck.

New Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti declined to comment for this article, but he has previously suggested that he might consider a plea bargain for at least some of the defendants. Other legal experts endorse the idea. Some see it as the best--perhaps the only--way for Los Angeles to emerge from this case intact.

“I hope that this case is resolved through a negotiated settlement,” said Peter Aranella, a UCLA law professor. “That type of resolution might offer a way to avoid further violence.”

Prosecutor Morrison would not speculate on the possibility of a plea bargain but said the district attorney’s office is open to suggestion. “If a just disposition can be reached, it will be reached,” he said.

Whether there is any offer that would satisfy prosecutors and the defendants while mollifying the LA 4+ Defense Committee remains unclear.

“What we want is justice,” defense committee official Naomi Sutton said. “So far, we haven’t seen it.”

The LA 4+

Seven men have been charged in connection with the April 29 attacks on motorists at Florence and Normandie avenues. All but one are accused of assaulting truck driver Reginald O. Denny. Three are being tried together, three are being tried separately and one has already been sent to prison. They are:

Damian Monroe Williams, 19

Charged with 17 felonies in attacks on motorists at Florence and Normandie. Four of the counts are related to the attack on Denny, including charges of attempted murder, torture and aggravated mayhem, each of which carries a possible life sentence. Bail set at $580,000.

Henry Keith Watson, 29

Charged on eight counts for alleged attacks, including four related to Denny--attempted murder, torture, aggravated mayhem and robbery. Watson, who also faces a possible life sentence, violated his probation on an earlier conviction and, thus, cannot be freed on bail.

Antoine Eugene Miller, 20

Charged on four counts related to the attack on Denny, plus 16 other charges for alleged attacks on seven other victims. Like Williams and Watson, Miller faces a possible life sentence. At a court session this month, Miller’s bail was lowered from $580,000 to $250,000.

Gary Williams, 34

Originally one of the “L.A. 4” because he was arrested on the same day as three others, Williams is charged with attempted robbery of Denny. He has also been charged with assaults on two other victims during the riots. However, he is being tried separately. Bail has been set at $50,000.

Anthony Lamar Brown, 24

Charged with assault and robbery in one attack, as well as misdemeanor battery for allegedly spitting on Denny as the trucker lay helpless on the ground. Bail set at $250,000.

Lance Jerome Parker, 27

Charged with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He is accused of shooting at Denny’s gas tank. Bail set at $100,000. The only one of the seven who is not now in custody.

Lewis Curl Foster, 40

Pleaded no contest to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Sentenced in November to serve three two-year prison terms concurrently. Now in prison.