Time - Man of the Year/Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso/moy/080392/08039932.000

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                                                                                JUSTICE, Page 45

Unlikely Heroes


Jailed for the now infamous beating of a white truck driver
during the L.A. riots, five black defendants are hailed by some
as victims of a biased legal system

By SYLVESTER MONROE


    Tom's Liquors was one of thousands of local businesses
that were looted in South Central Los Angeles last April. Today
the Korean-owned convenience store is back to normal. But
outside in the parking lot, just yards from where white truck
driver Reginald O. Denny was nearly beaten to death, another
minority enterprise has sprung up. It is a makeshift stand
selling $5 and $10 T shirts emblazoned with the slogan: JUSTICE
FOR THE LA 4. LET MY PEOPLE GO. And who are the L.A. 4? They are
the very men who ripped Denny from the cab of his truck, then
robbed, bludgeoned and kicked him senseless on the afternoon
that the riots began.

    The brisk sales of those T shirts, and the popularity of
their message, are the latest signs of a rising current of black
dissatisfaction with a criminal justice system that many believe
does not treat them fairly. Outraged by the acquittals of four
white Los Angeles police officers tried for the videotaped
beating of black motorist Rodney King, an increasing number of
L.A.'s African Americans are taking up the cause of the L.A. 4,
who became five last month when another man was arrested in
connection with the incident. Says Celes King III, state
chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality: "The support has
come because so many people feel that there but by faith could
be one of their relatives."

    The arrested men, who were identified from a television
news videotape, are described by police as criminals linked to
a vicious South Central gang known as the 8-Trey Gangster
Crips. But supporters see the defendants as five young black men
being scapegoated by a racist legal system that will not give
them a fair trial. Says Compton City Councillor Patricia Moore:
"The greatest fears we have are not of gangs, but of the
criminal justice system." With 25% of all black men between 20
and 29 years old in prison, on parole or on probation, Moore is
convinced the five will not receive a fair trial. Moore, like
many others, argues that these defendants should be released
just as the four white police officers who beat King were
acquitted.

    Allegations of two-tiered justice rose immediately after
the predawn arrest of the first three suspects. L.A. County
District Attorney Ira Reiner was criticized for political
"grandstanding" a week before the primary elections for
arraigning the four on nearly 40 charges, including attempted
murder. Because of what their attorneys have termed "inflated"
and unfounded charges, bail was set at $500,000 to $580,000 for
three of them. All four of the original defendants, plus the
fifth arrested last month, remain in custody awaiting trial.
Though no trial date has been set, preliminary hearings will be
held for all five on July 31.

    Their lawyers and supporters say the L.A. 5 are being
treated like convicted criminals, though none of the charges
against them have been proved. "Holding them in jail creates a
punishment for these men who should be considered innocent until
they are proven guilty," says Dennis Palmieri, the lead attorney
for defendant Damian Williams. Not so, says Reiner. "There is
only a single standard of justice," he says. "That standard is
that where a crime has been committed, it will be investigated
and it will be prosecuted."

    To make sure that process is carried out fairly, the Rev.
Edgar E. Boyd, pastor of L.A.'s Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church, has been holding weekly meetings at his church
since the first four were arrested. At times attended by as many
as 100 supporters, the primary purpose of the meetings is to
exchange and update information on the case and the physical and
mental condition of the jailed men. Not everybody in the black
community shares Boyd's concern for the L.A. 5. Some have asked
how a church could excuse the kind of violence the men are
accused of. Replies the pastor: "Our support is in no way any
condonement of irresponsible behavior or unlawful acts. We just
don't want to see them railroaded by an unjust system." No
matter which way the verdict goes, the trial of the L.A. 5 is
likely to increase the racial divisions that led to the April
riots.