LOS ANGELES : Appeal to Ask for New Judge in Denny Case

A lawyer for one of the defendants charged with attacking motorists during the Los Angeles riots will file a petition with a state appellate court today as part of his campaign to have a Superior Court judge removed from the case.

Lawyer James R. Gillen, who represents one of three men accused of attacking truck driver Reginald O. Denny and other victims on April 29, drafted the document. In the filing, Gillen asks that the appellate court allow him to remove Superior Court Judge John H. Reid.

In the appeal, Gillen also warned of potential community reaction if Reid, a white former prosecutor, is allowed to preside over the case involving three black defendants. That is especially true, Gillen said in an interview, because prosecutors last week removed a black judge, a move that angered many supporters of the defendants.

Judge Cecil J. Mills, the supervising judge in the criminal division of the Superior Court, has said he has absolute confidence in Reid and intends to stand by him unless there is a legal reason to pick a new judge. In a statement Thursday, Mills accused the lawyers of trying to “micro-manage the business of the court,” and said the “case remains with Judge Reid.”