Riot Defendant Testifies for Prosecution : Courts: Henry Watson, convicted in Reginald Denny beating case, denies naming the man who allegedly fired shots at Florence and Normandie avenues.

Henry Keith Watson, one of the defendants in the Reginald O. Denny beating case, was back in court Friday, testifying for the prosecution in the final criminal trial stemming from attacks against motorists at Florence and Normandie avenues during the 1992 riots.

But Watson, who is on five years’ probation for two misdemeanor convictions involving assaults at that intersection, was not a friendly witness for the prosecution.

Bristling on the witness stand, he denied a prosecutor’s contention that he gave a statement naming Lance Jerome Parker, 28, as the man who rode a motorcycle into the infamous intersection on April 29, 1992, as Denny was being beaten, and fired a shotgun at the gas tank of Denny’s gravel truck, then at a woman at a gas station.

Parker, a former semiprofessional football player, is charged with two counts of discharging a firearm with gross negligence. If convicted, Parker faces a 15-year prison term.

During his testimony Friday, Watson repeatedly denied that he ever said he saw Parker fire the gun at the truck or anything else.

He could not be budged from that account, even after Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin McCormick showed him the statement, which McCormick said Watson gave to him and two detectives April 8 at his parents’ home in the presence of his mother and father. It had been signed by Watson’s father Friday morning, McCormick said. Henry Watson did not sign the statement.

The younger Watson acknowledged that McCormick and the officers were at his parents’ house for about 10 minutes on April 8, but insisted that he told them nothing. He said he was in court Friday only because he had been subpoenaed.

Watson’s father later testified that he was not sure whether McCormick or his son had named Parker as the gunman during the interview at his house. One of the police officers who was present at the meeting then testified that she heard Watson make the statement.

Detective Martina Villalobos acknowledged that neither she, McCormick nor the other officer tape-recorded Watson’s statement or took notes.

During Watson’s testimony, a minor stir was caused when Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti sat among spectators for about an hour. Garcetti said later that he was there to see McCormick in action and frequently sat in on trials.

Watson’s attorney complained in court about Garcetti’s presence and later told reporters he believed the district attorney was there to remind Watson that he is on probation and could be sent to prison if he is not cooperative.