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

DATE: TUESDAY, October 19, 1993                   TAG: 9310190148
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

JURY EASES LA'S TENSIONS

Two black men were acquitted Monday of most of the felony charges in the beating of white trucker Reginald Denny and other motorists at the start of the 1992 riots, easing fears of renewed racial tensions.

The multiracial jury ended the day still deadlocked on the most serious count - attempted murder against defendant Damian "Football" Williams in the videotaped attack of Denny - and deadlocked on an assault count against Henry Watson.

Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk ordered the jury to resume deliberations today, saying he hoped that a "good night's rest" would be helpful.

The jury convicted the defendants of lesser counts. It first told Ouderkirk it was deadlocked on three charges. He told jurors to continue deliberating; and hours later, it found Williams innocent of a robbery charge.

Accepting the defense argument that Williams and Watson were caught up in mob violence after the state Rodney King beating trial, the jurors acquitted them of most charges that required specific intent.

Defense psychologists testified that Williams, 20, and his 29-year-old co-defendant acted in the heat of the moment and couldn't have planned their actions.

Their heads newly shaven, Williams and Watson sat calmly as the verdicts were read, except when the clerk announced "Not Guilty" on an aggravated mayhem charge against Williams, which could have brought him life in prison. Williams clapped his hands over his eyes, reared back in his seat and hugged his attorney.

The jury convicted Williams on a simple mayhem charge, with a maximum penalty of up to eight years in prison.

In the charges decided against him, Watson was acquitted of all but simple assault on Denny, a lesser related offense that carries a maximum penalty of only six months in prison.

The jury rejected the charge that Watson, who has been held since shortly after the riots, tried to kill Denny, the count that could have brought him life in prison.

"I am in total agreement [with the jurors]," Denny told the TV tabloid show "Inside Edition." "They should let the guy go."

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