Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993                   TAG: 9308290065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

DENNY'S HUG A SIGNAL OF POST-RIOT HEALING

Reginald Denny, his face still dented from the riot beating he barely survived, walked across a courtroom and embraced the mothers of two men charged with trying to kill him.

In battle-scarred Los Angeles, many were awed by his message that love heals even the deepest wounds. And it came during a trial pessimists said could aggravate citywide racial tensions.

"It is pretty unusual to have this kind of interaction between a victim and the families of defendants," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola University Law School and a former prosecutor. "But Mr. Denny has shown himself to be a pretty remarkable guy."

Denny's attorney, Johnnie Cochran, said it was a spontaneous gesture, and marveled at his client's ability to forgive: "I guess he's a lot kinder than you and I."

Cochran was in court Wednesday when Denny extended his hand to Georgiana Williams, mother of Damian Williams, during a break in his testimony.

"May I shake your hand?" Denny asked. As Williams reached out, he hugged her. He then moved on to where Joyce Watson, mother of Henry Watson, stood and threw his arms around her in a bear hug.

Watson, 28, and Williams, 20, are charged with attempted murder and other felonies in attacks on motorists at the riot flashpoint of Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29, 1992.

Denny's beating, broadcast live by helicopter-borne TV cameras, became the defining symbol of riots that broke out after state court acquittals in the videotaped police beating of Rodney King.