Denny Faces Alleged Attackers - And Hugs Their Mothers

LOS ANGELES - He had just watched the lengthy videotape of his brutal beating at the flash point of last year's riots, then described his injuries in calm tones but excruciating detail: a shattered jaw, collapsed eye socket and permanent softball-sized soft spot on his head.

But as truck driver Reginald Denny left the courtroom yesterday after the first part of his testimony in the trial of two men charged in his beating, he walked over to their mothers and hugged them.

It was an emotional day, the third in the trial of Damian Monroe Williams, 20, and Henry Keith Watson, 28, charged with a series of felonies stemming from the violence at the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29, 1992.

The drama continued with the next witness, a black truck driver who saw the beating on television and rushed to the scene to save a fellow trucker, Denny, who is white.

"I jumped up . . . ran out and tried to save that man's life," said Bobby Green, who piloted Denny's truck away from the chaos to a hospital. "I had to beg him to let me in the truck. . . . (He) thought that I was the mob, one of the guys trying to beat him up."

Suspects other than Williams and Watson have not been identified, although some are clearly captured on videotapes that were broadcast live and now form the centerpiece of the prosecution case.

The charges against Watson and Williams involve eight victims, with the most serious charge that of attempted murder on Denny. Both have pleaded not guilty. Conviction could mean life in prison.

Defense attorneys maintain that the prosecution cannot prove that their clients are the individuals depicted in the photographic evidence.

Williams' attorney, Edi M.O. Faal also said those who are depicted are not guilty of attempted murder.

In court yesterday, Denny approached Georgiana Williams, the mother of defendant Damian Williams. "May I shake your hand?" he asked. Mrs. Williams reached out with a big smile and hugged Denny.

"I love you," she said. "I'm so glad to meet you."

Denny then walked over to Joyce Watson, mother of defendant Henry Watson, and gave her a bear hug.

Throughout his testimony yesterday, Denny appeared unemotional as he watched the videotape of himself being dragged from the cab of his truck and struck with a hammer.

But over and over, as Deputy District Attorney Janet Moore showed Denny pictures of himself under such furious attack, he said he recognized himself but remembered nothing of the attack.

Three people who rushed to Denny's aid testified today that they knew instantly when they saw him being beaten on TV that they had to help.

Lei Yuille said she had just come home from work as a dietitian and her family was watching riot coverage on TV on April 29, 1992. She said they saw Denny being dragged out of his truck and pummeled.

Yuille said it took about 10 minutes to get from their South Central Los Angeles home to Florence and Normandie avenues, where rioting had broken out following verdicts in the state Rodney King beating trial. She said she ran to Denny's truck and climbed on a running board. Denny had managed to get back in the driver's seat of his 18-wheeler.

Yuille recalled how others came to help: Green, who testified that as a truck driver he felt obligated to rush down and drive the massive truck that could not have been driven by an amateur; and Titus Murphy, who testified that he and his girlfriend had no second thoughts when they decided to head for the scene.

Material from the Associated Press is included in this report.