Reginald Oliver Denny

Reginald Oliver Denny (born April 21, 1953 in San Pedro, California) was a construction truck driver who, after being dragged from his truck, was nearly beaten to death by rioters during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, some of whom where later determined to be gang members. The attack was captured by a Los Angeles News Service helicopter piloted by Bob Tur and shot by Marika Tur. The video was broadcast live on US national television as the attack occurred.

Background
On March 3, 1991, video tape captured Rodney King, an African-American, being repeatedly beaten by a group of LAPD officers. Over a year later, on April 29, 1992, all four officers were acquitted (three white and one Hispanic) when the jury could not reach a verdict. The result sparked outrage about racism across the country, especially in South Central Los Angeles (now "South Los Angeles" as of 2003) and South East Los Angeles where a largely African-American mob took to the streets shouting "black justice" and "No justice, no peace!"

Events of April 29, 1992
On April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, 18-wheel truck with 27 tons of sand and began driving to a plant in Inglewood where the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. His truck had no radio, so he was unaware he was driving into a riot. At 6:46 p.m., after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting for him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter with reporter Bob Tur aboard captured the events that followed.

A man named Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull Denny out. Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny, who had done nothing to provoke the violence, was kicked in the stomach. A man who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer. A man named Damian Monroe Williams (also known as "Football") then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious. Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed gang signs at news helicopters, which were televising the events live, and pointed and laughed at Denny. A man named Anthony Brown then spat on Denny and left with Williams. Several bystanders took pictures of Denny but did not attempt to help him.

After the beating, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams, a drug addict who frequented the area, approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker, a process server for a law firm, stopped near Denny and attempted to shoot the gas tank of Denny's truck but missed.

Bobby Green (a truck driver), Titus Murphy, Terri Barnett (boyfriend and girlfriend), and Lei Yuille (a dietitian), who had been watching the events on TV, came to Denny's aid. All four are black. Bobby Green was a trucker with a license and this allowed him to drive Denny's truck. They loaded Denny into the truck and escorted Denny to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, Denny suffered a seizure.

Paramedics who attended to Denny said he came very close to death. His skull was fractured in 91 places and pushed into the brain. His left eye was so badly dislocated that it would have fallen into his sinus cavity had the surgeons not replaced the crushed bone with a piece of plastic. A permanent crater remains in his head despite efforts to correct it.

The trials of the L.A. Four
*See also: L.A. Four
On May 12, outgoing Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates started a search for three of Denny's attackers who were identified from the video of the beating. Gates himself arrested Damian Williams while Henry Watson and Antoine Miller were arrested by other officers. Soon afterwards Gary Williams gave himself up to the police, having stolen Denny's wallet. The arrested three were suspected to be part of the gang 8-Tray Gangster Crips.

Gary Williams pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and assault in the spring of 1993 and was sentenced to three years in jail. Judge John W. Ouderkirk granted Miller a separate trial on the grounds that the strong evidence against Watson and Damian Williams could harm his case. The two, in addition to assault charges, were charged with attempted murder. Damian Williams was also charged with aggravated mayhem.

Edi M.O. Faal was the defense attorney for Damian Williams and Earl C. Broadly was the defense attorney for Henry Watson. On Wednesday, July 28, 1993, Watson's and Williams' trial began. The two were charged with the assault of Denny as well as five other motorists and two firefighters who were driving past the intersection of Florence and Normandie shortly after the start of the Los Angeles riots on April 29, 1992. At the trial, Denny faced his attackers for the first time since they had assaulted him. On August 12, 1993, a jury of five whites, three blacks, three Latinos, and one Asian was chosen.

As in the Rodney King police trial, the prosecution relied heavily on video shot by a third party, this time in a helicopter. They also planned to build up portraits of Watson and Williams as criminals, antisocial, and beyond likelihood of rehabilitation and redemption.

On Thursday, August 19, Lawrence Morrison, deputy district attorney, delivered the opening statement. A week later, the videotape of the beating was shown. The doctors who treated Denny testified, describing his wounds and their efforts to repair them and were followed by witnesses of the beating. The defense was denied direct contact with the witnesses to protect their identities. In late August, Denny's rescuers testified for the prosecution. The prosecution rested on September 17, 1993.

The defense began pleading on September 20, making a case for unpremeditated assault. Faal began by challenging the video evidence and portrayed Williams as a victim of poverty and racism. She and Broadly tried to humanize their clients.

In the closing arguments the defense attorneys claimed Williams and Watson were being used as scapegoats for the L.A. riots. The prosecution counter argued that the two had knowingly tried to kill Denny and were not victims.

After a few jury changes, the jury arrived at a verdict of not guilty for all charges except a felony count of mayhem for Williams, and one misdemeanor assault charge for both Williams and Watson on October 18. Watson was then given credit for time served and was released. As the families of the defendants celebrated the lesser sentences, Denny surprisingly approached Damian Williams' mother Georgina and hugged her. Other family members then exchanged warm embraces and words of reconciliation with him.

The outcome of the trial was said to be "payback" for the acquittal of the four police officers charged with beating Rodney King. For weeks afterwards, public debate about racism and whether the verdict was just or unjust raged on. As the debate continued, Williams was denied bail and sentenced to a maximum of ten years in prison on December 7, 1993 by Judge Ouderkirk. Damian was released early for good behavior in 1997. On December 5, 2003, he received a life sentence for murdering a drug dealer in July, 2000. He will not be eligible for parole until he serves 47 years.

Miller was shot in a nightclub on February 1, 2004 and died from his wounds soon after.

Denny currently lives in Lake Havasu City, Arizona where he is a self-employed boat motor mechanic.

Other related litigation
The best available footage of Denny's beating on April 29, 1992 was filmed by Marika Tur from a helicopter piloted by her then-husband, reporter Bob Tur. Together, they operated a company called Los Angeles News Service. In the rush to cover the riots as they developed, dozens of television networks and stations around the world simply copied and aired the LANS footage without permission.

LANS sued nearly all of them in federal court for copyright infringement; the last case was finally settled in 2004. Only a small handful of stations, mostly in California, already had preexisting agreements with LANS or waited to negotiate agreements before airing the footage, and thus were not sued.

In July 2006, the site YouTube was also sued in federal court for copyright infringement. Robert Tur said, in the lawsuit, that in one week's time, a version of the video uploaded by a YouTube user was viewed over 1,000 times via the site, thereby hurting his ability to license the video.

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