Stakes in Denny Case Raised, Say Black Leaders

Frustrated and angered by what they view as excessively lenient sentences imposed this week on two LAPD officers in the Rodney G. King civil rights case, leaders in Los Angeles’ African-American community are facing troubling questions as another racially charged trial looms on the horizon.

In recent months, most of these mainstream church and political leaders have sought to portray the King beating and the assault on truck driver Reginald O. Denny and at least a dozen other motorists--vividly captured on videotape--as separate and not entirely comparable.

But with the white officers having received 2 1/2-year sentences for the beating of the black motorist--far less than prosecutors had requested--community leaders say the stakes have been significantly raised in the Denny case. Black defendants Damian Monroe Williams and Henry Keith Watson face a maximum of life sentences if convicted of beating the white truck driver in an incident that was broadcast live as rioting erupted in April, 1992.

At the heart of the matter, church and political leaders say, is not so much similarities of fact between the cases, but rather the central issue of faith in the judicial system.

“When we tell people to put your faith in organizing and going through the justice process and then have people like (U.S. District) Judge (John G.) Davies bend over backwards to show black people don’t essentially count, it’s very difficult to get people to understand it,” said Joseph Duff, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. “It’s troubling and unfortunate because the cases are not the same.”

With the Denny case in jury selection, black leaders find themselves facing a difficult dilemma--trying to keep the peace while recognizing that public emotions are again highly charged with calls for colorblind justice.

“The community was again let down--and when you play with people’s emotions, it’s a dangerous thing,” said the Rev. Leonard Jackson, associate minister at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. “I’m not sure if the judge was aware of the fact that he raised the stakes in the case, but as far as the community is concerned, he definitely did.”

Since the arrests in the Denny beating, prosecutors have been attempting to draw distinctions between the two cases.

The officers convicted of beating King were within their legal rights to stop and attempt to subdue him at the end of a chase. The Denny defendants are accused of bashing the trucker and other motorists randomly as they passed through the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues during the unrest that followed the not guilty verdicts in the first King beating trial.

In the King case, four Foothill Division police officers stood trial twice, first on state charges, then on federal counts.

Over the last year, some black leaders have questioned whether attempted murder charges filed against Watson and Williams are excessive. But since federal prosecutors stepped in to retry the officers in the King case, many leaders have repeatedly assured their constituents that justice would eventually be served.

The guilty verdicts in the federal civil rights case seemingly vindicated that message, they say. So, to them, this week’s sentencing was like a punch to the gut.

“Obviously, there are differences (between the cases), but nonetheless, the symbolism remains,” said City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “This rather graphically illustrates a two-tiered system of justice. The anticipation is the worst will happen to the defendants in the Denny case as opposed to what happened to the defendants in the King case, and therein lies a problem.”

Jackson, of the First AME Church, said: “Being a minister, it would be very easy to say the old cliche, turn the other cheek. But you only have two cheeks.”

As the Denny beating case wends its way through trial, a number of political and church leaders are considering a range of strategies, including community forums, a possible economic boycott and a concerted effort to persuade U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to appeal the 2 1/2-year sentences given to Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officer Laurence M. Powell. They say the appeal should be based on the grounds that Davies did not properly follow federal guidelines.

“There are alternatives we must take in terms of trying to seek legal recourse,” said the Rev. Kenneth J. Flowers of the Messiah Baptist Church in South-Central Los Angeles. “I also believe we’ll have to do a lot of praying and talking and networking and coalition building to build trust among ourselves and help our people understand that violence is not the way.”

Kerman Maddox, a public affairs consultant and well-known activist in the black community, said he fears for the future if the sentencing of Koon and Powell is not appealed.

“You tell people to be patient and have faith,” he said. “But when you have a decision like this, it’s hard to convince people because consistently the system doesn’t seem to work.”

Maddox, who only a week ago told reporters that the black community just wanted to see the Denny beating case “get . . . over with,” said the public will now be riveted to it.

“I think what happened in yesterday’s decision basically puts the defendants in the Denny case in some sort of martyr status. I’m sure the judge didn’t intend to do that, but that is in essence the bottom line of yesterday’s decision.”

One of the few black community leaders not to criticize Davies’ sentencing on Thursday was the Rev. E. V. Hill of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, a special adviser to Mayor Richard Riordan for South-Central Los Angeles.

“In the light of the fact that men who had been set free were brought in by the system and retried under the Civil Rights Act, we have now proven that the system will work,” Hill said. “I cannot and will not cast judgment upon the judge.

“Because I write letters weekly asking for leniency and mercy for my people . . . I cannot at the same time ask that the book be thrown at the white folks.”

Hill added that he feared further unrest would erupt if community leaders fail to hammer home the differences between the King and Denny cases. “It’s not going to be a popular thing to make that differentiation,” Hill said. “(But) if we don’t make the differentiation . . . we’ll have another explosion.”

Earl C. Broady, attorney for Denny defendant Watson, predicted Thursday that the sentencing of Koon and Powell will put additional pressure on prosecutors to consider settling the Denny case through a plea bargain.

“I think the district attorney should sit down and talk about a reasonable disposition,” Broady said.

But Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said that he still believes a full trial would serve as the best means for defusing community anger.

“This is a case that I think needs to be aired in terms of the factual basis underlying the prosecution,” Garcetti said. “Most people do not know there’s more than one victim in this case. There are 13 separate victims.

“I think it’s important for the community to hear all the evidence.”

The Denny defendants, if convicted, could face maximum sentences of life in prison, and there is little chance that even the most lenient sentences would fall anywhere near those received by Koon and Powell, Garcetti said.

“It would depend on what crimes they are convicted of,” Garcetti said. “But assuming they were convicted of all the crimes, then I don’t see that within the realm of possibility.”