Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 17

eto EDITORIALS 4 BRIEFLY 8 (Clarion4rctl0cr March 31, 1982 WEDNESDAY UMC lulling defendant convicted in 20 minutes Write Action Parkway Ave. from early afternoon until 10:30 By JOY McILWAIN auto-Ledger Soft Writer Only 20 minutes after retiring to consider his fate, a seven-man, five-woman Hinds Circuit Court jury Tuesday night found Edward "Peanut" Smith hospital last Aug. 17 and fired a round of bullets into patient James Jackson, killing him instantly. But Tuesday, several of Smith's family members said hospital personnel had picked the wrong man. Smith couldn't have committed the murder, his brothers and nieces told jurors, because he was at home with them on the day of the attack.

A string of defense witnesses, including Smith's brothers, a sister and two nieces, said the 28-year-old Smith was at the house they all shared at 3921 Smith will be sentenced at 9 a.m. today by Hinds Circuit Judge William Coleman. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. The verdict came as no surprise to Smith's lawyer, Lee Agnew who said afterward that he didn't expect anything other than a guilty verdict in such a short time. Jurors apparently believed three nurses who testified Monday that Smith was the man who walked into the intensive care unit of the Jackson teaching p.m.

on the day of the killing. The attack in the intensive care ward occurred about 6 p.m. Smith's nieces, Irma and Sara Johnson, said their uncle was home that afternoon watching television until at least 7:15 p.m. when they left to attend a revival service at their church. "He was home," Sara Johnson told Agnew.

"He See Defendant, page 3B guilty of the deliberate execution-style slaying of a University of Mississippi Medical Center patient last August Jurors, who began deliberating about 7:25 p.m., returned their guilty verdict at 7:45 p.m. jrU -Mt; Hi' mrtimK. va i Write Action answers questions and checks out valid complaints on a wide variety of consumer matters. Write Action also cuts through government red tape. II you feel you ha ve been victimized or ha ve a question regarding any of these areas, please write Write Action, The Clarion-Ledger, P.O.

Box 40, Jackson, Miss. 39205. Be sure to include the names and addresses of companies you write about and any documentation. We also need your name and address which will be kept confidential. Write Action is not a shopping service.

Q. My husband and I are having problems receiving payment for some seismic drilling done on our land. A drilling supervisor for Dixie Exploration of Jackson came to our bouse Nov. 16 to obtain permission to drill on our land. We were supposed to be paid $500 for the five holes the company dug, but we have yet to receive our money.

Although we have made numerous calls to Dixie Exploration, all we get is the promise that someone will return our call. Then we're told that the check is "in processing and you should receive payment in about a week." We think we've waited long enough. Can you help us obtain our money? Mrs. R.G.M., Brandon. A.

The wait is over since you received a check from Dixie Exploration. Write Action wrote the company on Feb. 5, but our letter went unanswered. However, you said you received a $500 check three weeks later. The company did not explain the delay.

Q. About nine months ago, I responded to an ad for a special Elvis Presley album collection from Advertising in New York City. The records arrived about six weeks later, and I gave the postman $11.93 in c.o.d. charges. However, upon opening the package I found that many of the records were broken.

I contacted the company that day and was told to return the albums along with the postal receipts showing what I had paid. I did this immediately, but I haven't received new records or a refund from R. I've contacted the company several times since, but my correspondence apparently has been ignored. I'd still like to ha ve the records but 111 take a refund. Can you help me? H.D.H., Jackson.

A. Advertising picked up the pieces and sent you another Elvis Presley album collection. We wrote the firm at its New York address on March 2 and sent along a copy of your canceled check and postal receipt. Although Write Action never received a reply to our letter, you said the collection arrived about three weeks later. Q.

I ordered Pro magazine from NFL Properties in New York City, but I didn't like it so I wrote the magazine asking that my subscription be canceled. The magazines kept coming, then I started getting invoices for payment of the subscription followed by letters threatening my credit rating. I decided to keep my subscription l1 hiiiiiu Spit 'n' polish Darren Adams relaxes Tuesday before his squad is reviewed during the annual inspection of the Lanier High School Junior ROTC. Cadets, right, salute as the national anthem is played. The 150 cadets were tested on their military knowledge, appearance and marching skills during the inspection by U.S.

Army officers Lt. Col. Donald Taylor of Oxford and Capt. Don Hopkins of Fort Riley, Kan. David FrankThe Clarion-Ledger Officer King testifies he'd do it again By GREGORY WEBER Clartaa-Ledgcr Staff Writer Jackson police officer Gary King said Tuesday in federal court that given the same circumstances he faced on the evening of Aug.

29, 1980, he would again fire the shots that killed Dorothy Brown. "I interrogate myself," King said. "Still, to this day" he would reach the same conclusion. King testified in VS. District Court in Jackson.

His testimony came during the second day of a federal civil suit brought by Dorothy Brown's family against the city of Jackson, King as a city employee, and former Police Chief Ray Pope, who headed the department at the time of the shooting. The family is seeking $1 million in damages for alleged negligence in the pregnant woman's death on Aug. 29, 1980. "When I fired that first shot I was in fear for my life and those around me. A bystander could have gotten killed," King said.

He said he believed that "I would not be here today, or some innocent bystander would not be here today," if he had not acted as he did. Testimony hasn't established how many neighbors had gathered near the scene that day, but King estimated that about 20 to 30 people lined the streets when the shooting occurred. It was the second time King had taken the stand. King's testimony in the trial is his first public statement about the death of Dorothy Brown, which stirred racial protests during the fall of 1980. Mrs.

Brown was shot four times after she allegedly approached King and his partner Frank Craft and refused to drop a pistol she had in her right hand, witnesses and officers said. The officers had responded to complaints that a woman was shooting in the area of 322 Manship St. near downtown Jackson. King shot Mrs. Brown after repeatedly ordering her to drop the pistol, he said.

King was placed on routine administrative leave for two weeks after the shooting and was returned to duty without prosecutors filing criminal charges. A November 1980 Hinds County grand jury declined to indict King after hearing investigative reports of the incident King's testimony brings to light information which previously was hidden in police investigation reports not made public after the shooting. Varying official and unofficial accounts indicated that Mrs. Brown pointed the gun at neighbors, fired the gun in the area several times before police arrived, and pointed the gun at police before the fatal shooting. King testified both Monday and Tuesday, however, that he never saw the gun aimed at anyone.

On Tuesday, as part of the city's case, he said neighbors told him that Mrs. Brown had pointed the gun at one woman before police arrived on the scene. He also said he noticed that the gun in Mrs. Brown's hand was cocked and she was swinging it at her side in an arc of about 12 to 18 inches as she approached. Addie Carpenter and David McGowan HI, who lived on Manship Street at the time of the shooting, testified Tuesday that they never saw Mrs.

Brown lift the gun to eye level or aim the gun at anyone in the presence of officers. The witnesses also said they heard Mrs. Brown defy police demands to drop the pistol. The suit alleges that King wasn't properly trained by Jackson police policies to make the correct deadly force decision when faced with the approaching, gun-wielding woman. King earlier testified that he had received no formal refresher training when he returned to the force in June 1980 after a four-year layoff from police work.

King said Tuesday he did discuss the department's deadly force policy with other officers, and he said he might have seen a film and lecture on the use of deadly force during the two months preceding the shooting. Under questioning by Assistant City Attorney Tim Hancock who is representing the city, King, and former chief Pope King also discussed the deadly force training he received while attending both the Mississippi Highway Patrol and Jackson Police academies before be left police work in 1976. King is a veteran officer who worked several years with the Mississippi High-vay Patrol before serving two years flth the Jackson Police Department from 1974 through 1976. See King, page 2B Council balks at insurance cost hike and clear my name, so I sent the com pany an $18 money order on Dec. 28.

However, I'm still getting nasty letters. Please help me! M.B., Jackson. A. Your credit is no longer in jeopardy and Pro magazine has straightened out your subscription. Pat Richards, the magazine's customer service representative, an- The council asked the city's 20-member group insurance committee to invite other insurance companies to submit proposals for group medical and life coverage for the cits 2,200 employees now covered by Aetna.

The insurance committee will meet Thursday to consider the council's recommendation. The committee includes representatives of the Police, Fire, Public Works, Finance, Personnel and Engineering departments and other at-large city representatives. "There's got to be a better way," tommissioner Nielsen Cochran said. "I for one am not going to go along with either increased rates or increased deductibles until we take another look at what else is available." Commissioner Luther Roan concurred. See City, page 2B Last week, Aetna Life Casualty Insurance Company notified city officials by letter that either health insurance premiums would increase by about 25 percent or the deductible would be doubled beginning next month.

The company asked the city to choose the alternative it preferred by Thursday. But city employees balked at any change in either rates or the deductible during departmental meetings Monday and the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ignore the company's informal deadline and examine alternatives to Aetna's insurance coverage. The city's contract with Aetna, which expires October 31, allows for mid-contract premium and benefit changes but gives the city the option of canceling the policy if of ficials object to the changes. By LEA ANNE HESTER CUrioo-Ledger Staff Writer It's back to the drawing board for municipal employees' insurance coverage, the City Council has decided. Mayor Dale Danks Jr.

said Tuesday he doesn't believe that city employees should have to pay increased premiums for life and medical insurance or face decreased benefits. "It's not fair to you. Faced with belt-tightening measures and the threat of layoffs, I don't want you to be in fear of further added expenses," Danks told a roomful of employees attending Tuesday's council meeting. "No decision has been made about changes in your insurance policies and no decision will be made until the council is in concert" cmorwl Write 4fun'cMarch 4 letter confirming that the magazine had re- ceivea your payment wnicn sne creu-ited to your account. She apologized for the inconvenience and said you should disregard any future billings you may receive.

O. I mailed mv Bulova watch to the Bulova Service Department in Dallas on Sept. 16 for repair. The watch Clarion-Ledger education report wins award was only six months old wnen stoDDed working. A new safety coordinator has embarked on a year Clarion-Ledger staff writer Fred Anklam Jr.

has I hadn't received my watch or a re- the outmoded system of alarms on which the nlv from the company by mia-No- vember. so I wrote a letter of inquiry and several weeks later received a card saying that my watch was mailed to me on Oct. z. immediately wrote the company informing it that my watch had not arrived. The company hasn't responded and I haven't sotten mv watch back.

Any assis schools depend, Anklam found that more than one-third of the buildings had not been inspected for fire hazards for almost two years. The series also revealed that in addition to aging foundations and heating and plumbing systems that are in constant need of repair, broken bathroom fixtures, damaged water fountains and asbestos-laden walls and ceilings tance you can provide will be appre ciated. Mrs. Columbus. long project of developing a comprehensive safety program for the district and has taken steps to revise fire drill monitoring procedures.

A recent check of fire department inspections of school buildings also showed that all but one school had been inspected during the first four months of this school year, compared to only 19 of the 53 schools that had been inspected at the same point the year before. The Education Writers Assocation gave the Philadelphia Inquirer its first prize in investigative reporting for newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation. The awards will be presented April 24 in Washington, D.C., during the Education Writers Association's annual national seminar. Anklam, 27, has covered education for The Clarion-Ledger since September 1979. A 1977 graduate of the University of Mississippi, Anklam joined the paper's Rankin Focus staff in June 1977 as a reporter and served as editor of the twice-weekly section from April 1978 to June 1979j Anklam previously won second place awards for feature writing in 1980 and 1981 from the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press.

won a first-place National Education Reporting Award for his series of stories, "Your Schools: How Safe?" The prize is one of 52 awarded by the Education Writers Association to cite the best education reporting in the United States and Canada in 1981. There were 470 entries. Anklam's first place, for investigative reporting by newspapers with less than 75,000 circulation, is the second national first-place award won by The Clarion-Ledger this year. Published Feb. 8-12, 1981, "Your Schools: How Safe?" examined the safety afforded 30,000 Jackson Public School children from the moment they are picked up by a yellow school bus through the last minutes of a Friday night sports contest Among other things, the series revealed that over an 18-month period, Jackson Public School buses were involved in 20 percent of the state's school bus accidents even though Jackson operates only 5 percent of the school buses in the state.

I The series also disclosed that most of tae city's public school buildings rely on primitive alarm systems that date to the 1950s and present real fire hazards. Despite A. You received a replacement watch and you said you're pleased with it. Write Action wrote Bulova's ser vice manager. L.D.

Weller. on Jan. 8 FRED ANKLAM JR. and you told us in early February that pose daily threats to stu you received a card irom euiova statine that a tracer had been filed dents' health and safety. School officials acknowledged there was no systematic inspectic of school buildings with the shipper.

You said you still don't know what happened to your for physical problems. Several improvements have been made at the Jackson Public Schools since publication of the series. priginal watch, but the replacement arrived on March 24..