LOS ANGELES : Judge Grants Anonymity for Jurors in Denny Case
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk discounted defense arguments and ruled Thursday that jurors in the trial of three men charged with attempting to murder truck driver Reginald O. Denny shall remain anonymous.
However, Ouderkirk agreed with defense attorneys that there is no need to sequester the jurors for the three months it is expected to take to try the case.
The lawyers for defendants Antoine Eugene Miller, Damian Monroe Williams and Henry Keith Watson argued unsuccessfully that keeping the identities of the jurors secret would give them the unsubstantiated impression that the defendants are dangerous. Prosecutors argued that disclosure of the jurors’ names would invite harassment.
The defendants each face possible life sentences in connection with the televised attacks on Denny and other victims during the riots last year. The riots erupted after the not guilty verdicts of four police officers charged in the beating of motorist Rodney G. King.
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