Enhancement of Denny Tape Explained : Trial: Expert tells jury that expensive, tedious process was used to bring out facial blemish and stain on T-shirt that police used to help identify defendant.

A cheek blemish and stain on the back of a T-shirt were among key videotape images an expert restored to help police identify two men accused in the Reginald O. Denny beating trial, the expert testified on Friday.

Leonid Rudin, director of research and development for Cognitech Inc., explained the technology of videotape for the jury considering the evidence against Damian Monroe Williams, 20, and Henry Keith Watson, 28.

The Los Angeles men are accused of trying to kill trucker Denny and attacking other people at Florence and Normandie avenues as the Los Angeles riots erupted April 29, 1992. Williams and Watson could face life in prison if convicted.

Much of the prosecution’s case rests on more than 40 minutes of videotape that captured the attacks. The videotapes, shot from a news helicopter and at ground level, have been played extensively during the trial.

Rudin said that because the computer restoration process is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, the technique was not used on all the videotape shown in court.

“That would be quite impossible,” he said, explaining that the process would take 1,100 hours, at a cost of $450 per hour. And, he said, it would “take years and years” to complete.

Under questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Moore, Rudin explained how he sharpened key frames depicting an individual who authorities say is Williams.

Among them are a close-up of a man standing near Craig Fujii, an Associated Press photographer who was attacked, and what looks like the same man standing over Jorge Gonzales, a law student beaten when he tried to intervene in an attack on someone else.

“Do you see something on the right cheek of the person bending over a prone Jorge Gonzales?” Moore asked.

“Yes,” Rudin said, marking the area with an arrow so the jury could study it later.

He also pointed to a series of images showing how the T-shirt that prosecutors say Williams wore is marked by a blood-like spot at some point in the rioting.

“Do you see an individual standing to the left and behind this individual touch this person?

Rudin said he did.

“And prior to the touching, was there a stain on his back?” Moore asked.

“Absolutely not,” Rudin replied.

The T-shirt stain controversy arose this week, when defense attorneys pointed out that the stain is not visible on the person identified as Williams throughout the entire series of attacks.

Prosecutors say they are prepared to argue that Williams, who lived a block and a half from Florence and Normandie, returned to his home to deposit loot from Tom’s Liquor Store and changed his shirt.

Williams and Watson face a total of 12 counts in connection with a series of attacks on Denny and seven others.