Denny Defense Witness May Aid Prosecution

A physician called as a defense witness Thursday may have bolstered the prosecution’s case against one defendant accused of assaulting a contractor with a deadly weapon at Florence and Normandie avenues, a flash point of last year’s riots.

Dr. Irv Edwards, an emergency room physician who treated Fidel Lopez, testified Thursday that spray-paint may potentially cause death--an assertion that could support one charge against Damian Monroe Williams.

Williams, 20, and Henry Keith Watson, 29, are charged with trying to kill trucker Reginald O. Denny, and with assaulting or robbing seven other people at the intersection.

Williams is accused of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly spraying Lopez, a contractor, with what prosecutors say was black paint. Videotape shows a man leaning over Lopez and spraying his face, abdomen and genital area with what appears to be black paint as Lopez lay partially undressed in a pool of his own blood after being beaten and robbed at the intersection.

Answering questions from attorney Edi M.O. Faal, who represents Williams, Edwards acknowledged that he made no reference in his medical report to any injuries or treatments made necessary as a result of Lopez being sprayed.

During cross-examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence C. Morrison, Edwards testified that Lopez suffered severe, deep facial cuts and was sprayed over those wounds. That spraying could destroy tissue and create a likelihood of infection that could travel throughout the body, affecting the heart and brain, the physician said.

Spray-painting the eyes could lead to blindness, and spray paint in the lungs could interfere with breathing and cause death, he said.

But during another round of questions from Faal, Edwards conceded that he knew of no injuries to Lopez’s brain, heart, eyes or lungs from the spray paint, and that all the contractor’s vital signs were normal when he was brought to the hospital.

Lopez’s facial cuts--including a four-inch gash across his forehead--required more than 250 stitches and three to four hours to close, Edwards said. Nurses had removed most of the black paint by the time Edwards treated Lopez, and only traces remained on the contractor’s inner thighs, the doctor said.

In his opening statement four weeks ago, Faal questioned how anyone could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon for spraying someone with a black substance. While not conceding that Williams committed the act or that the black substance was paint, Faal acknowledged that the spraying of Lopez was certainly demeaning.

He then told the jury that Williams, however, is not charged with “assault with a demeaning weapon,” but assault with a deadly one.

In an apparent effort to demonstrate that Lopez suffered no injuries from the spraying, Faal called Edwards, who was allowed to testify before prosecutors completed their case to accommodate the physician’s schedule.

After Edwards’ testimony, Faal continued his cross-examination of Los Angeles Police Detective Arthur Daedelow, the final prosecution witness. Examining an enlargement of a photo that prosecutors say shows Williams, Daedelow said there appears to be a gap in the man’s front teeth.

Faal had Williams stand in front of the jury to demonstrate that he had no gap or missing teeth--which left jurors and spectators laughing as Williams clenched his teeth and opened his lips widely.

Faal also sought to punch holes in testimony by prosecution witnesses, such as key witness Gabriel Quintana saying he saw Williams hit Denny in the head with a brick three times. Daedelow said he showed Quintana videotape of the Denny beating, and Quintana could not point to Williams hitting the trucker three times.

Daedelow also testified that the photo shown to Quintana to identify Williams had been displayed at a televised news conference by former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Members of Williams’ defense team have maintained that using a televised photo in that manner undermines the integrity of the photo identification process.

Prosecutors said they should complete the presentation of their case today , and defense attorneys have said their case should take about five days.