TV Reporter Identifies Williams and Watson as Denny’s Attackers : Court: Robert Tur says he had a clear view as helicopter circled riot scene for two hours. Defense attacks his credibility.

A helicopter news reporter identified the defendants in the Reginald Denny beating case Friday as the men who attacked the trucker at Florence and Normandie avenues during last year’s riots.

Robert A. Tur described his frustration as the helicopter circled and his wife videotaped nearly two hours of violence at the corner--images that crystallized the horror of the rioting for the nation. He said he called the police and even sounded his chopper’s siren--to no effect.

“I was helpless to do anything about it--it was horrible,” Tur told jurors at the trial of Henry Keith Watson and Damian Monroe Williams, who are accused of multiple felonies in connection with beatings and robberies at the intersection, including an attempt to murder Denny.

Tur said he directed the helicopter to descend as the violence continued until it was just 70 feet from the ground and he could clearly see events unaided and identify facial features by using binoculars.

“Being helpless, I wanted to make sure there was a clear record of what was going on down there,” Tur said.

First in his own narrative, and then commenting on his own footage and other pictures shot on home-video equipment, Tur repeatedly identified the 20-year-old Williams and 28-year-old Watson as the attackers of Denny and another trucker who was severely beaten, Larry Tarvan.

Tur said Denny was pulled from the truck and pinned down by Watson, who used his right leg to force Denny’s face to the pavement. Tur said he found it “incredible” as he watched Watson momentarily remove his foot so another man could smash a heavy white object against the back of Denny’s head.

Tur said he watched another man hit Denny three times in the back of the head with a ball-peen hammer, and then watched Williams smash a brick into Denny’s temple.

Tur said Williams then “kind of did a pirouette and turned, and did kind of like a victory sign--I thought it was a victory sign--with his hands and fingers.”

“Did you see it clearly?” asked Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Moore.

“Unfortunately,” Tur said, adding “There is no doubt” that Watson held Denny down and Williams smashed him with the brick.

The rioting followed the acquittals of four white police officers on state charges in the beating of black motorist Rodney G. King. Two of the officers were later convicted in federal court of violating King’s civil rights.

Tur was the first witness to identify Watson and only the second to identify Williams. He emphatically identified the clothes they were wearing--which can be seen in several riot videotapes.

Defense attorneys attacked his credibility, questioning how anyone using binoculars in a circling helicopter could have witnessed events in detail. They also questioned why Tur had not radioed police when the beatings took place--Tur said they were watching his images live “along with a million other people”--and asked whether prosecutors had suggested he “focus on” Watson while reviewing the videotape.

“No one told me to focus on him,” Tur replied.

In challenging Tur’s credibility, the defense hoped to tell the jury about his frequent run-ins with local and federal officials and the revocation of his pilot’s license in 1991 for allegedly reckless flying.

Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk ruled, though, that a letter from a city prosecutor accusing Tur of trying to get a witness to commit perjury in another case was hearsay and irrelevant. Nor would Ouderkirk allow Tur’s loss of license or litigation with the city and the Federal Aviation Administration to be mentioned.

Williams’ family issued a statement challenging how Tur could have seen events as clearly as he described from a moving helicopter, and said Ouderkirk “bent over backward to protect a key witness the prosecution needs for identification.”