Needed: An End to a Sad Chapter : Prolonging the Denny case makes no sense

The Reginald Denny beating case isn’t over yet. Because the jury deadlocked on one charge, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti must decide whether to retry Henry K. Watson on a count of assault with a deadly weapon against another victim. Also, Judge John W. Ouderkirk still must sentence Damian M. Williams, convicted of one count of simple mayhem; this felony conviction carries a prison sentence of two to eight years. Finally, after the state action is complete, federal prosecutors must decide whether to pursue civil rights charges against Watson and Williams.

Neither a retrial of Watson on the state charge nor a federal trial of either defendant would be in the best interest of Los Angeles. However, a stiff sentence for Williams would be most appropriate--and in the interest of justice.

There is no guarantee that another state prosecution would convict Watson on the assault charge; and refusal to retry him does not excuse the violence that occurred at Florence and Normandie avenues at the start of the 1992 riots. But a new trial might only exacerbate racial tensions and prolong this sordid chapter in the area’s history. We don’t need that.

Federal prosecutors would tackle an even tougher case than their local counterparts if they decided to pursue civil rights charges against Watson and Miller. Their case would not parallel that of the Los Angeles policemen convicted of violating Rodney G. King’s rights. That case fell neatly under the domain of civil rights law: abuse under color of law. This historic civil rights measure protects all Americans, not only minorities, from such abuses as a police beating of a handcuffed suspect.

But federal civil rights law does not apply so directly to street crimes. Although the young men who brutalized people at Florence and Normandie appeared to pick their victims by race or ethnicity, the federal prosecutors would have to prove conspiracy and intent--in the manner of a Ku Klux Klan conspiracy--to make a civil rights charge stick. This is very tough to do.

Because the verdicts generated so much public comment, the jurors who acquitted Williams and Watson of most charges explained their thinking Monday. Their joint statement said: “The verdicts were decided according to the law, not through intimidation, fear of another riot, nor were the verdicts based on black versus white.” No one condones what happened at Florence and Normandie. Indeed, for his criminal conduct Damian Williams deserves a very stiff prison sentence. Henry Watson too was wrong. His offenses were less severe, and he already served nearly 18 months in jail. But another trial is not the answer. Los Angeles must finally move on.