Tough Law, Tough Cases : Defense Rests in Denny Case, Remains Confident

Defense attorneys in the Reginald O. Denny beating trial rested their case Thursday after a UCLA professor testified that individuals in a mob behave impulsively and thoughtlessly.

Armando Torres Morales, who teaches at UCLA’s School of Medicine, said that impulsive behavior is triggered by a “group contagion” set off by fear, elation, anger, frustration or other emotions.

In explaining his “group contagion” theory to the jury, Morales said riot actions are purely spontaneous--an explanation that would rule out the specific criminal intent necessary to prove attempted murder and aggravated mayhem charges.

Prosecutors followed Morales’ testimony by calling a social scientist of their own, who testified that individuals in a mob retain their capacity for rational thought and to make choices.

Cal State Northridge sociologist Lewis Yablonsky said the problem with the group contagion theory is that it does not account for individual behavior.

“Most people see it as quite out of date,” he said.

After resting their cases, defense attorneys said they had been able to raise substantial doubts about the guilt of Damian Monroe Williams, 20, and Henry Keith Watson, 29. They are accused of trying to murder Denny and with assaulting or robbing seven other people at Florence and Normandie avenues in the early hours of last year’s riots.

Williams alone is charged with aggravated mayhem--intentionally causing permanent disability or disfigurement--for allegedly hitting Denny in the head with a brick. Like attempted murder, aggravated mayhem carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“I feel very confident that there will be no conviction on the life-sentence charges,” attorney Edi M. O. Faal, who represents Williams, said outside court. “We have been able to dispel the notion that the object thrown by the man prosecutors call Mr. Williams caused the life-threatening and disfiguring injuries to Mr. Denny.”

He said the prosecution had not proved intent. Moreover, Faal said, “we wanted to go beyond that and show that even if there was intent, the alleged aggravated mayhem was not committed by the person they say is Mr. Williams.”

Watson’s attorney, Earl C. Broady Jr., said prosecutors had not proven the charges.

“These men are presumptively innocent,” he said. “Prosecutors failed to prove each element of each charge. They have not sustained their burden of proof.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Moore smiled when told of the remarks. “We don’t believe there is a reasonable doubt that these two young men are guilty as charged,” she said. “We feel very confident about our case.”

Defense attorneys called nine witnesses, seeking to cast doubt on the identification of Williams and Watson and on the intent behind the alleged crimes.

One prosecution witness, gas station cashier Gabriel Quintana, provided potentially the most damaging testimony. He said he knew Williams on sight from earlier encounters at the Unocal station at Florence and Normandie, and that he saw Williams hit Denny in the head with a brick.

In addition, Quintana testified that on April 29, 1992--before rioting broke out--Williams told him he was going “to hit and kill people.”

Faal called Phillip Davis, a paralegal and self-described minister, who said Quintana could not have seen the attack on Denny because rioters had begun breaking into his booth before that beating.

Davis, a good Samaritan who assisted trucker Larry Tarvin after he was beaten, said he saw Quintana beaten before Denny’s truck pulled into the intersection.

Prosecutors showed on cross-examination that Davis was confused on the time of events, could remember very few details of other assaults he said he saw, and had used a false name on an earlier driver’s license.

Faal called Quintana back to the stand and drew out other details that raised questions about his credibility. Quintana said he had seen Williams hit Denny three times with a brick--twice while the trucker was on the ground and again as he tried to stand--an account unsupported by the prosecution’s videotape.

Quintana attempted to explain that one blow was with a white object later determined to be an oxygenator, a medical device commonly used in open-heart surgery.

Denny was hit with an oxygenator--but not by the man prosecutors say is Williams.

If Davis and Quintana cancel each other as credible witnesses, the defense could benefit because Quintana is the only ground-level eyewitness, and he is the only witness to give direct evidence of Williams’ intent.

Faal also called KCAL-TV Channel 9 news anchor David Jackson to challenge eyewitness testimony from helicopter newsman Robert A. Tur and one of his passengers, Robert Clark, photo editor of the Outlook newspaper in Santa Monica.

They said they saw Williams throw the brick and Watson place his foot on Denny’s head or neck. Tur said he had a clear view of Williams and Watson through binoculars from an altitude of 70 feet.

Jackson, who was also in a helicopter over the intersection, said he never saw Tur’s craft descend to 70 feet. But Jackson also said he was refueling during the attack on Denny and did not see how low Tur might have been.

Moore said prosecutors will call three more witnesses to rebut testimony for the defense, and that final arguments will be made Monday.

The case could go to the jury Tuesday.