REJECTING THE DEFENSE THAT RIOTING IS NO CRIME

The Damian Williams case, tried this fall in Los Angeles County Superior Court, has become a metaphor for a failing criminal justice system, a society unhinged and a nation in danger of losing its moorings. We pause here to applaud the moral courage, proper outrage and plain good sense of Judge John Ouderkirk, who this week rejected the call to diminish personal responsibility further and instead imposed the maximum sentence allowed to him on Damian Williams.

A Los Angeles jury had earlier convicted Williams of felony mayhem and other misdemeanors in the savage beating of truck driver Reginald Denny in April 1992. The beating occurred during riots that gripped south central Los Angeles after the acquittals of police officers in the first of what came to be known as the Rodney King beating trials. In the Williams case, the jury acquitted him of more serious charges, including attempted murder.

The profoundly disturbing nature of this case was magnified by the grotesque defense offered by Williams' attorneys. Unable to rely on more traditional defenses of alibi, excuse or some such, defense counsel offered that Williams' acts were somehow excused by his participation in a riot.

The easier choices were, of course, unavailable, owing to the presence on the scene of a bystander with a video camera, who recorded the entire, horrifying attack.

It's all there, on videotape: Reginald Denny, a working man in his delivery truck, pulling slowly to a stop at the intersection; some of the mob, menacing the truck, then throwing open its driver's door; the awful moment when a few toughs grabbed Denny, pulled him out and threw him to the pavement; the beating, the stomping, the kicking; and finally, Damian Williams: smashing Denny's head, at close range, with a brick, followed by the chilling sight of Williams with arms raised high, doing a "victory dance."

Riot is an ancient crime, on the statute books and punishable since time immemorial. Williams' counsel, however, actually offered as Williams defense that because his client was somehow caught up in a mob, therefore he should not be held fully responsible for his actions.

Into this disorientation and deplorable confusion stepped Judge Ouderkirk to inject some sober good sense.

"Mr. Williams, it is intolerable in this society to attack and maim people because of their race," said the judge, referring to attacks by the black defendant that included the beating of three Hispanics and an Asian-American, as well as Mr. Denny.

In addition, rejecting the cries against him of prejudice, Judge Ouderkirk took the extraordinary step of replaying the awful videotape in court prior to rendering and explaining his sentence. This point the judge made by emphasizing the extent of Williams' violence, the helplessness of his victims and what he described as his lack of remorse.

"It is hard to credit the statement of remorse given by Mr. Williams to his probation officer, given the defendant's spitting on Mr. Denny and his victory dance performed in the intersection within a few feet of Mr. Denny's bloody body," the judge said.

The brutal reality we must confront is that we have come to accept as normal a state of affairs in America -- particularly in urban America -- that was quite simply unthinkable short years ago. Vast stretches of our urban centers -- the hearts of once-great cities -- have been abandoned by civilized life, because they are surrendered to murderous thugs and savage criminals such as Damian Williams and his cohorts.

Government at all levels is simply failing in its first and most vital task: the preservation of order, the protection of the lives, safety and property of our people. Without that order, civilized life simply cannot exist, and progress, whether economic or in any other realm, will be unknown.

Mr. Williams' lawyer, Edi Faal, belongs in a Hall of Shame for a defense based on an abject and pathetic theory. By way of contrast, a courageous Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk deserves the thanks of freedom-loving Americans, and of all who know we must act decisively to recover the America we all knew, and love, and yearn to restore.