Defendant Acquitted in Venice Riot Beating : Courts: Several witnesses say man did not take part in April 29 assault on bicyclist. The case had been seen as racially charged.

A Superior Court judge on Thursday acquitted the remaining defendant in the beating of a bicyclist in Venice during the opening hours of last spring’s riots.

The decision by Judge David Perez in Santa Monica Superior Court ends the racially charged case that was nicknamed “Denny West” because of its cursory resemblance to the videotaped beating of truck driver Reginald O. Denny in South-Central Los Angeles. All five who were charged in the Venice case are black and the victim is white.

Perez said prosecutors were unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Arron Soil, 23, had taken part in the April 29 beating of cyclist Mark Rosenberg or in a later attack on the home of a white resident. Soil, who was arrested June 2, faced nearly 11 years in prison.

Six defense witnesses testified that Soil was not involved. The strongest testimony came from a neighbor, Vera Darby, who said she watched Soil’s mother pull him into their apartment complex as Rosenberg was attacked just up the street. Barbara Jamar, a passerby hailed as a hero for stopping to aid Rosenberg, said she did not see Soil at the scene.

Soil was one of five defendants charged with knocking down and beating Rosenberg a few hours after the not guilty verdicts in the police beating of Rodney G. King. That night, the Oakwood neighborhood in Venice erupted in looting and attacks on cars and homes.

Shauntee Snodgrass, 21, and James Hill, 23, face up to two years in prison after entering no-contest pleas last month. Prosecutors dropped charges against Melvyn Hayward Jr., 19, and Barron Deal, 23. Hayward was sentenced to nine months in jail for looting a car stereo store and Deal, a felon, could face a year in prison if found to have violated his parole.

The original case against the five defendants, once considered potentially explosive, unraveled as potential prosecution witnesses backed out or were unable to identify suspects. Soil, the only defendant to go to trial, opted for a trial without a jury in order to avoid the possibility of a deadlock along racial lines, said defense attorney Leonard B. Levine.

Upon the judge’s decision, Soil turned calmly and smiled at his mother, Pam Anderson, and a handful of friends looking on. “I’m very happy,” Anderson said quietly, declining further comment.

The prosecution’s only two witnesses had testified that Soil was among the group of up to 15 young men who took turns beating Rosenberg after he was tackled. One neighbor, Marshall Bagby, said the scene resembled a “feeding frenzy” that ended only when Jamar stopped to help.

Bagby, who is white, said his house was pelted later with rocks and bottles by a group shouting “Get the Cracker!” and “Burn the White Boy Out!” He said Soil was in that group, but there were no other witnesses.

Bagby’s believability may have suffered when he mistakenly picked out photographs of two alleged attackers who could not have been there. One man is dead and the other was in prison.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Stone accused several defense witnesses of lying. While he lauded Jamar’s actions, he questioned her account. She testified that no beating took place after the bicyclist was knocked down--a version much different from those of other witnesses and from a police report that purportedly included her original description of events.