RACIAL LAWSUIT AGAINST SIX FLAGS FAILS JUDGE: PLAINTIFF COULDN'T PROVE SOURCE OF TAPED SLURS.

A Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of Six Flags California's Magic Mountain on Tuesday in a case brought by a customer who said park employees targeted him with racial slurs that were caught on video tape.

The verdict came on the first day of deliberations in the case brought by customer Thurman Brown, who claimed that park employees made the comments when he made a 1999 visit to the theme park.

The comments were captured on a videotape of Brown as he rode the ``Dive Devil'' attraction. Brown bought the video as a souvenir, not realizing until later what had been said.

Though the tape recorded the racial slurs, it does not show who made them.

Defense attorney James Michalski argued that the comments could have been made by other customers. Brown's attorneys say that is impossible because the only people standing near the video camera were employees.

In his closing argument, Michalski said park customers were close enough to the video camera microphone to have been recorded making comments.

``If you look at it in terms of who said what, (that is) essentially an undisputed point,'' he told the jury.

He also criticized a doctor's testimony intended to demonstrate that Brown suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after hearing the slurs.

Michalski said a defense expert spoke to Brown by phone and found his psychological condition much stronger than the other diagnosis suggested.

``We're not arguing that saying (racial slur) is acceptable,'' Michalski said. ``We don't think that kind of thing is appropriate. But let's look at the reality of what it did (to Brown).''

Brown's attorney, Patricia Barry, criticized the defense witness who said Brown was unharmed by the incident.

``Of course, these things cause terrible damage,'' Barry said. ``You have to think about what was said to him. It was an act of hate.''