Like It or Not, This Jury Just Did Its Job

We’ve known them for a year and a half now, ever since they met at the intersection of Rage and Vengeance. We witnessed the horror through a television camera perched inside a helicopter. Our reaction was visceral.

The victim, we soon were told, was named Reginald Denny. The prime suspect, we would later learn, was Damian Monroe Williams.

From the start, this was a crime tinged by race and prosecution affected by politics. Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, trying to polish his tarnished reputation, took it upon himself to arrest Williams (with, of course, a massive backup.) Gates and then-Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, whose office initially charged the suspects with torture, thus witlessly abetted those who elevated Williams to the dubious status of martyr and anti-hero.

There were riot victims who suffered more than Reginald Denny. There were culprits more criminal than Damian Williams. But Denny and Williams are the ones we got to know best, so this case in Superior Court was the one in which we invested our emotions.

We wanted the jury to vindicate our individual point of view. And we wanted more. We wanted catharsis.

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This is what the jury decided: That Williams was guilty not once, but five times over. But to hear some people talk, you’d think that the guy walked.

True, he wasn’t convicted of the most serious charges. Yes, they found him not guilty of attempted murder. Yes, the jury passed on aggravated mayhem in favor of simple mayhem against Denny, a felony, and four counts of misdemeanor assault involving other victims. And yes, his co-defendant, Henry Keith Watson, was convicted only of misdemeanor assault.

But the jurors have relieved us of the duty to write allegedly when describing how Williams threw the brick that smashed Denny’s head. For that and his other crimes, Williams could theoretically be sentenced to 10 years in prison. Legal experts, meanwhile, suggest that a term of four to eight years is more likely.

This is no small thing. But it’s easy to understand why many people think such punishment is insufficient. After all, we saw the videotape. It sure as hell looked like that mob wanted to kill that poor truck driver. They just about did--and would have, had it not been for the fact that other people, also black, came to Denny’s rescue.

What’s harder to understand is how some people talk as if another crime tinged by race has been perpetrated by the jury.

That’s how four students at Reseda High School saw it. They were white guys, ages 16 to 18. “A racist double standard,” said one. The jury was afraid of another riot, another concluded. “They beat people with bricks and got off,” a third said. “Who are we trying to please?”

In some quarters, it’s a given that this jury was cowed by fear of another riot or personal reprisals.

This notion denigrates a jury that, by all appearances, was nothing if not conscientious. Defense attorneys and some activists called for a mistrial when jurors took the unusual step of requesting the removal of one woman, who is black, because she seemed unable to comprehend her role. Her removal is a sign of how seriously this panel considered its task.

In its final form, the jury was comprised of four African-Americans, four Latinos, two Asian-Americans and two Anglos. The jury reflected the diversity of both the defendants and the victims.

Observers who assume that Williams merited the maximum charges underestimated the standard of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” And they overestimated the power of a video camera to penetrate the criminal mind.

If anything, the video that confirmed Williams’ guilt also raised doubts about his intent. He smashed Denny with a brick and did a victory dance. But if Williams was bent on murder, why didn’t he retrieve the brick and finish the task?

Motives no doubt influenced the jury’s thinking. Like judges who showed leniency to looters, the jury seemed to view the defendants as people swept up in ugly passions triggered by the King beating verdicts. For prosecutors, mob behavior was a way to enhance charges. Defense lawyers convinced the jury of the opposite--that the mob mentality diminished, rather than increased, culpability.

Perhaps the jury figured that, in the larger picture, there was plenty of guilt to go around.

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“Who are we trying to please?” the Reseda High student asked.

An interesting question. The answer might be everybody and nobody. We empower a jury to serve as our proxy and hope for the best. This panel did its job. Or would you have preferred a hung jury?

Reginald Denny, bless him, is satisfied. He has turned the other cheek. He has hugged the mothers of Williams and Watson. He says it’s time to move on.

And don’t forget, Damian Williams will be moving on as well. He’s going to prison.