The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 11

I I I I Thursday, January 11, 2001 THE TENNESSEAN www.tennessean.com LOCAL NEWS State legislature re-elects 3 constitutional officers vidual in whom he Darnell, Morgan, Adams face no foes have perfect trust and Senate Finance Associated Press Secretary of State Riley C. Dar- man Douglas Henry, The state's three constitutional nell served in the legislature for 22 said in nominating officers secretary of state, treas- years before being elected to his Steve Adams has urer and comptroller were re- first four-year term as secretary of since 1987. He also elected unanimously yesterday by state in 1993. Wednesday's re-elec- year term. a joint convention of the Tennes- tion was to his third term.

None of the three see Legislature. Comptroller John G. Morgan sition. The 102nd General Assembly was re-elected to his second two- Their re-elections convened at noon Tuesday for a year term. Before succeeding long- second day of committee the three-day organizational session, time Comptroller William Snod- session; after which it will recess for two grass, he was Snodgrass's chief be appointed today weeks before facing the fiscal assistant for 11 years.

legislature will recess. problems the 101st General Assem- "It is rarely a man is given the The General bly left for it to handle. opportunity to nominate an indi- return Jan. 29.1 OFF BROAD SHOE WAREHOUSE UNFORGETTABLE SHOES AT UNFORGETTABLE PRICES! NAL Red Dot Sale Shoes foul We accept weather boots competitors coupons Cool Springs Downtown Opry Mills 309-8939 254-6242 514-0290 Gutter Helmet GUTTER PROTECTION SYSTEMS Expires Never Clean Your Gutters Again- "Ever" OF NASHVILLE Time Limited Special OFF same 6 months With approved credit Overflowing Gutters Leaking Gutters Clogged Down Spouts Damaged Landscaping Performance Lifetime Materials Warranty VISA (Master Card Call TODAY NASHVILLE 367-4101 ALL OTHER AREAS CALL 1-800-594-0168 HOME EQUITY MORTGAGE FEE FREE LOANS NO APPLICATION ANALYSIS FAST Up to of Home Value Borrow Payment Bill Consolidation Loans Refinancing Home Improvement Loans Past Bankruptcy OK Slow Credit OK Payments based on ITV 1st fen 360mo, In-Home Appts. Available depending amortization.

on tern rate and 7 amount. APR Rates may sub- vary ject to change. Loans subject to credit and Land Contract Payoffs underwriting guidelines. Credit Lines Available Try Our EZ Online Application at www.tennmf.com TMF Tennessee Mortgage Funding LENDER NOUS NAMB BORTSASE SAMIRS 1-888-775-4343 615-399-3595 1321 Murfreesboro Pike, Suite 130 Nashville, TN 37217 Open M-F 8am-8pm SAT 9am-1pm Psychiatrist won't testify Leach's attorneys had said he might ADAMS does confidence," come to Committee ChairD-Nashville, Morgan. been treasurer serves a two- had any oppo- took up the organizational chairmen will and then the Assembly will By KIRK LOGGINS Staff Writer Lawyers for Texas parolee Robert Leach said Tuesday that they have decided not to present testimony from a Nashville psychiatrist as part of their effort to keep Leach from being convicted of murdering two women here.

Metro Public Defender Ross Alderman said Monday that he might call Dr. Keith Caruso to the witness stand during Leach's trial next month for questioning about Leach's ability to form the intent necessary for a murder conviction. RUTHERFORD A That prompted Criminal Court Judge J. Randall Wyatt to schedule a hearing Tuesday to hear what Caruso had to say about his evaluation of Leach. Special rules apply to expert testimony concerning the mental health of defendants who are facing the death penalty.

Prosecutors had said Monday that they might need to have Leach examined by an expert of their choice, depending on what Caruso planned to testify at the trial. Alderman said Tuesday morning that he does not plan to call Caruso to testify during the guiltor innocence canceled phase of Leach's trial, and Wyatt the scheduled hearing. The defense still has the option of presenting testimony BILL STEBER STAFF Half moon on the rise Birds fly over the Rutherford County courthouse as a half moon appears at twilight recently in Murfreesboro. DEATHS Services are today for craftsman Willie Doss of Fentress County By LEON ALLIGOOD Staff Writer Willie Doss, 84, a fourth-generation chair maker from Fentress County, will be buried today on the farm where he worked for much of his adult life. The well-known craftsman died Monday in Fentress County Hospital in Jamestown after an extended illness.

Mr. Doss began learning how to make chairs at age 5 when he accompanied his father into the woods to look for hardwoods suitable for furniture making. His father taught him to make the wooden chairs using the same hand or foot-powered tools and lathes as his father, grandfather and great -grandfather. "He was an absolute heritage more crude, but they are organic treasure," said Barbara Stagg, exec- and real. I have two and they have utive director of Historic Rugby, sat out in the weather for 30 years.

where Mr. Doss often demon- They have this nice gray patina to strated his skills for special events them. They are wonderful and and for Elderhostels, when senior ancient-looking. citizens stay at the Morgan County "The best thing is that before he village to study history and crafts died he taught one of his sons and a of the area. grandson how to make chairs, so "He was one of a few people left the legacy will continue." in the South, and possibly in Amer- Funeral services will be held at 2 ica, who was a real tradition bearer.

p.m. today at Jennings Funeral He used the skills that had been Home in Jamestown. passed down to him and built Survivors include his wife of 42 chairs in the same manner as the years, Ruth Doss; two sons, D. first generation," Stagg said. Wayne and Paris Doss; three "His chairs had that certain look daughters, Wilma Pullins, Glenna to them.

They were different from Matthews and Janice Potter, all of what other chair makers were Fentress County; and seven grandturning out. People say they are children. EASTSTATE Teen dies after being shot in police chase KNOXVILLE (AP) A 16-yearold boy who was wanted as an escapee from Scott County authorities died after he was shot in the back of the head by a Knox County sheriff's deputy during a chase. Robert Kinder Jr. was shot Tuesday morning while his truck dragged a Knox County officer who was trying to capture Kinder and another teen in the truck.

Kinder was pronounced dead at the University of Tennessee Medical Center about 10 hours after he was airlifted to the hospital, officials said yesterday morning. He had been listed in critical condition and remained on life support late Tuesday evening. The chase in east Knox County from Caruso at the sentencing phase of Leach's trial, if he is convicted of murder. Wyatt said in a court order filed last Friday that he has approved state funds for Leach's lawyers "to" hire multiple mental health experts." None of those experts found that Leach, 38, was legally insane at the time he allegedly killed Sarah McBride, 69, and her cousin, Jean Poteet, 70, in McBride's home on' Haywood Lane in July 1999. But Leach's lawyers hope to present testimony that he has a low level of serotonin, a chemical in the body that inhibits impulsive behavior.

His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 5.. Police hunt 18-year-old in slaying Police are asking the public to help them find 18-year-old Bernard Johnson, wanted in Saturday's shooting death of Demarcus Stewart. Stewart was tortured and shot multiple times inside his home a at 622 N. Ninth St.

in east Nashville. Police obtained a warrant charging Johnson with criminal homicide. Witnesses told police that Johnson and others forced their way into Stewart's home, tortured him, and forced him to tell them where they could find money and other items. Family members came home and discovered Stewart late in the afternoon. He lived long enough to give police information about the shooting and the robbery.

Stewart died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Chawnsi Lecoya Dowell, 20, no address given, was arrested Sunday evening in connection with Stewart's death. He was charged with criminal homicide. Johnson was arrested on charges of DUI, evading arrest and driving without a license Friday night, but was free on bond when Stewart was killed. Police asked anyone knowing Johnson's whereabouts to contact the Murder Squad at 862-7329 or Crime Stoppers at 74-Crime.

EASTSTATE Mother may get victim's skull KNOXVILLE (AP) KnoxCounty prosecutors say they won't object if the skull of a 19-year-old Job Corps student murdered six years ago at the University of Tennessee's Agriculture campus is turned over to her mother. Prosecutors have kept the skull as evidence since the murder, despite May Martinez' pleas that the skull be buried along with the rest of her daughter's remains in Pennsylvania, where Colleen Slemmer's father had a grave plot. But in court papers filed this week, prosecutors said they will not object if a judge gives the skull to her mother. Slemmer was tortured and killed Jan. 12, 1995, by fellow Job Corps students Christa Pike, Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson.

Pike, then 18, kept a piece of the skull. That was why Assistant Knox County District Attorneys Bill Crabtree and Jo Helm kept the skull. During trial, a UT anthropology professor showed how the piece found in Pike's pocket fit the hole in Slemmer's skull. Pike was convicted and sentenced to death. Prosecutors wanted to keep the skull in case she ever won a new trial.

Shipp, of Memphis, got life with the possibility of parole. Peterson, of Cleveland, received probation. I started in the morning after Sgt. When the truck attempted to Mike Dalton, an arson investigator make a U-turn, Dalton and another in the sheriff's department, noticed car, driven by. Deputy Harold two trucks pass by as he was com- Hayes, 27, boxed it in.

Then Dalton pleting a report, said Chief Dwight reached into the driver's window Van de Vate of the Knox County of the truck and "got tangled in the Sheriff's Department. truck," Van de Vate said. It was Dalton saw the trucks and opted unclear whether Dalton was trying to follow them, Van de Vate said. to grab the keys or one of the boys. Less than a half-mile down the The truck pulled away while road, Dalton encountered the Dalton dangled out the window.

trucks and two 16-year-old boys. Hayes fired two shots from his One of the trucks, which had semiautomatic pistol. Van de Vate been reported stolen, was engulfed said one struck Kinder in the back in flames in a cleared field. of the head, and the other hit the The boys got into the other truck truck's door frame. and drove off after Dalton turned Dalton suffered some cuts and on the sirens and lights in his bruises on his knees, Van de Vate unmarked Chevrolet Lumina, Van said.

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