The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 78

LOCAL NEWS The Atlanta Journal TTte Atlanta Constitution H2 Sunday, October 15, 1995 500 in Athens commemorate slain man of speed Wary traps? Cruise the Internet Police seek man in school rape Probe into shooting by police under way By Rebecca McCarthy STAFF WRITER Athens Undaunted by a driving rain, about 500 people marched to Thomas Lay Park on Saturday to commemorate Edward Wright 20, who was killed by Athens police Thursday morning, and to promise that his death won't be forgotten. "I knew Edward, and he wasn't a violent person, not at all," said Rick Dowdy, 25, who walked from Martin Circle to the park with about 200 other people. "I was surprised to hear he had been killed, and how he had died." until the officer shot him several times. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, assisted by the local police internal affairs division. "I don't see this as a racial incident; I think the officer was frightened and he panicked," said Rick Dunn, a member of 100 Black Men of Athens.

"Why don't we march when a black kid kills another black kid? A lot of people are mad, and with good reason, but they need to use their anger to uplift themselves, to move toward something positive." Many of those speaking in Thomas Lay Park vowed to continue pressing for justice and for greater participation in the Athens-Clarke County government. Some called for an independent commission to investigate the circumstances of Wright's death. One woman told people to stay home on Monday "to fast and pray," and another urged parents to volunteer in their children's schools. "We are taxpayers and citizens," said J.T. Jones, president of the Spring Valley neighborhood association.

"The Police Department doesn't dictate to us. How did what happened happen? What kind of training did that officer get?" As people began dispersing, Melvin Jones, 34, one of the event's organizers, said he felt that the march and rally were successful, "but we're just continuing a journey to equality and to preventing the deaths of young black males. If it takes a march every month, we're going to do it." IIILILIJIIlllJlyUI ill Unarmed and naked, Wright Wright was shot by Athens-Clarke Coun- ty police Officer Sean Potter, who responded to a 7 a.m. complaint about a naked man running in the street. Potter encountered Wright on Martin Circle in the Spring Valley subdivision and tried to talk with him, police said, but Wright lunged at Potter, who sprayed pepper gas in his face.

The two men fought, and another police officer came to Potter's aid, striking Wright with a baton, police said, but Wright continued to pummel Potter DeKalb County police are searching for a former janitor, at Masters Christian Academy' who has been charged with -the rape of a 15-year-old sti dent at the Tucker school last month. Sgt. P.L Pendergrass of the DeKalb YouthSex Unit said the whereabouts of Tony Patterson, 25, are un-known, although he is be- lieved to be from Arkansas. The rape allegedly oc- curred Sept. 7 during school hours, but according to Pen-dergrass, the girl was so trau-v.

matized that she didn't report the incident until last which is also when school offi-, cials found out about it. is not unusual," Pendergrass said. Shortly after the Patterson was transferred by the Rehoboth Baptist Church, 1 which owns the school, to other location. Soon after thai he was fired for reasons lated to the alleged rape, po7 J-, lice said. The incident is the sex-related crime reported at Masters Christian Academy in, the past two months.

On 2, Marie Hiller, 37, a science and Bible class teacher, was charged with sexual assault of a person in custody when she- -confessed to having sexual re- i lations with a male student at the school. ABUSE TEEN ON PROBATION: A 16-year-old girl who put her premature baby out with the trash was sentenced to two years' probation for reckless abandonment in the infant's death. Brenda Mason of Gro-vetown a small town west of Augusta stood trial on felo- ny charges of reckless aban-donment and cruelty to chuV dren in Columbia County Ju-iV, Twenty-five years ago, Lester Maddox made "national news when he erected ta billboard outside Ludowici to "i warn motorists about the town's habit of giving too many traffic 'tickets to unsuspecting tourists beading for Florida. That was long before the Age. Now, "the (little people," as Maddox used Vto call his citizens, don't have to look to the governor for help in avoiding a Georgia "speed trap." With personal Computers, they can go straight lq the Internet for advice from fellow drivers.

About 20 Georgia sites are listed in the "Speedtrap Registry" on the Internet's World Wide Web. In all, more tfian 2,000 American "speed are listed by state on the Web page that Vanderbilt University sophomore Andrew Warner started in February. "It seemed like a good topic," said Warner, 20, who Vhas gotten about 10,000 and messages about Web page. He contends the Registry leads to safer roads by s.lpwing down would-be Speeders. "About 1 percent of the responses have been negative," j-he said.

They include 'accusations that he abets lawbreakers. He counters by saying he won't publish traps when the contributor is "angry or mentions a cop by name." 1' The warnings from anonymous contributors range specific locales to precise information on police activity. One contributor described the Duluth Police Department's traffic enforcement fleet, 'including the color of all the "They're pretty up on the information," said Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher. it doesn't make any to me. The idea is to down speeders, plain and simple.

As far as I'm concerned, they-can print that in bold letters on the Internet." Georgia State Patrol spokesman Bill Wilson said the comments sound like sour Daughter warned dad about plane MONROE DRIVE DOUG MONROE grapes from speeders who got caught. For example, an entry about the patrol's activities on Ga. 400 south of I-28S says "average ticket speed on this trap: 86 mph in a 55." "If somebody's running 86 mph, there ought to be a speed trap for them," Wilson said. But, he added, "the State Patrol cannot engage in a speed trap. We don't get any of the money.

It's a misnomer." Cobb and DeKalb counties have multiple listings. Cobb's are mostly on 1-75 and 1-285. "If this the Web page slows people down so we don't have to keep officers out there, I think it's a great innovation," said Toby Toler, Cobb's assistant public safety director. "But I take issue with the word A speed trap is where you set up a location that leads a person to violate the law. That has never been our intention.

We are doing speed enforcement. A person is speeding before we come into the picture." DeKalb's sites include Avondale Estates, the DecaturAgnes Scott College area, 1-85 and Pine Lake, where residents wear T-shirts that say: "Pine Lake is more than a speedtrap." "The Internet amazes me," said Pine Lake Municipal Court Judge Alan Mullinax. "Everything is on the Internet." Questions or opinions about traffic? Call 222-8664 or write to Monroe Drive, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, P.O. Box 4689, Atlanta, Go. 30302.

Fax: 526-5746. Doug Monroe's new e-mail address: trafficajc.com Pamela Maury spoke of her husband's desire to constantly live on the edge. Floridian killed in Atlanta crash By Don Melvin and Lyda Longa STAFF WRITERS Just two days before he crashed and died, Michael Maury's 7-year-old daughter, Keely, warned him that the home-built plane he loved would someday kill him. According to her mother, v- venue Court last week. She Pamela Maury of Boca Raton, Keely told her father Wednesday: "Daddy, if you want to die, go ahead, but I'm not riding on that plane again." Friday afternoon, Mau very outgoing, very happy," she said.

"He was willing to try and do anything. He thought he would live forever." A native of France, Maury came to the United States about 14 years ago to sail around the country on a sailboard. He began in Matamoros, Mexico, then one day pulled up to a campfire at Highland Beach and met the woman who became his wife, McMullen said. McMullen said Maury's death left his employees in shock. But.

nobody was more shocked than Maury's wife. "I found out about Micheal's death after I came home from seeing the movie 'Apollo 13 with my daughter," Pamela Maury said. "It was also our 13th wedding anniversary, and it was Friday the 13th. That was what our whole life was like one incredible thing after another. But never a tragedy like this." "He was always so confident he could get out of any situation," McMullen said.

near Boca Raton. His wife said he purchased the plane, already assembled, about a month ago. On Saturday afternoon, Maury's wife spoke of her husband's desire for constantly living on the edge, and she recalled her daughter's warning to her father. "She had ridden in the plane and she told him it wasn't safe," Pamela Maury said. "I never thought that plane was safe, either.

I always trusted the pilot, but I never trusted the plane." Keely's ballerina slippers were found amid the wreckage Friday. Maury flew to Atlanta Thursday afternoon to attend an industry convention, said Kathy McMullen, a manager at Maury Enterprises. "I think this was the first long trip he'd been on in that plane," she said. Before taking off for Florida on Friday, Maury had phoned and said he was concerned about the weather, she said. Maury also owned another plane, a helicopter and a motorcycle, she said.

"He was very adventurous, faced up to five years' deten-' Maury tion. Judge Carlisle Over- street merged the charges Thursday, and on Friday, found Mason delinquent. Overstreet noted that a forensic pathologist testified that the premature baby, born with multiple health problems, would have had only a "one in a hundred" chance of surviving even if Mason had not put her in a trash bag on her porch Dec. 10. ry, an adventurous world traveler, was killed when the tiny, HX-3 single-engine craft plunged into a Buckhead neighborhood, exploding into dozens of pieces.

The cause of the crash hasn't been determined. Maury, 32, owned Maury Enterprises, a pressure-washing business in Highland Beach, Staff reports and news services Justice in Newton County court far fiom ordinary Some Georgia stretches cited on Web World Wide Web Speedtrap Registry: Internet address http:llwww.speedtrap.comspeedtrapl These entries came from anonymous contributors: 1-75, near Forsyth: "During the holidays, I have seen up to eight speeders pulled over at the same time. Even during the regular season I typically see several speeders pulled over. Beware!" Cobb County (multiple entries): 1-75 north of 1-285: "They laser you off an overpass, radio to one of five to 15 waiting officers who write you up close to where the 65 limit drops to 55." 1-285 west of 1-75: "This trap makes the other Cobb County ones look like traps set up by amateurs. And I have seen all the ones while coming down 1-75." Duluth: "3-4 Caprice Classics, all black, with low-profile light bars a Camaro Z-28! (black) with low-profile light bar that's specifically for speedtraffic enforcement a bright red Pontiac Trans-Am with NO external lights." Ga.

400 southbound below 1-285: "Good defense to use: if your detector goes off, slow down to match surrounding traffic, then they don't know who was speeding since they didn't get a visual on you works! (my cousin is a Georgia State Patrol officer based out of the Atlanta barracks average ticket speed in this trap: 86 mph in a 55 expensive)." 1-85 in DeKalb County: "When there is a lot of traffic you can often duck off the interstate and onto the access road before the police can pull you over." i i '2 IIS MAIN STREET, GA. Links to the past: Newton County Probate Court Judge Henry A. Baker shows the copper measuring standards that were used when the 19th century ordinary was relied upon to keep the tradesmen honest. Baker prefers the simple justice of the ordinary to the modern judicial system. BILL OSINSKI Staff 5 I V.l I loll- Suspect I Suspect 2 Castaneda Arbogast BILL OSINSKI Before there was a Judge Ito, or even a Judge Wapner, there was the county ordinary.

Back when justice was more a matter of right and wrong than of television ratings or talk-show-audience juries, the judge of the county ordinary court applied the law of the land to everyday disputes, from monitoring elections to making sure the butcher wasn't tipping his scales. In Covington, they still like that old-fashioned approach to justice, and Newton County Probate Judge Henry A. Baker seeks to keep it that way. In his court, there are no computerized dockets, virtually no appointments, no cameras, no jury consultants (since there are no juries). In fact, there isn't even a courtroom.

In most cases, the parties pull up a chair in Baker's office, say their piece, and have the matter settled. "Folks like to come in and talk to the judge," Baker said. "When they can get it off their chest, tell their side of the story, they usually feel better, whether they're guilty or not guilty." 7 Stability is also part of the tradition Baker seeks to uphold. He has held tne position for 17 (0 1 Atlanta t. The people who come before him these days have distinctly modern problems: a DUI defendant who needs to schedule payments for the heavy fine, a couple who've ended their cohabitation and expect the probate judge to decide things like who gets the big-screen TV, or the people who are shocked to discover they can't get their gun permit renewed.

Baker attempts to deal with these modern issues by applying the old standards of justice. "A lot of people think it's supposed to be like Judge Wapner's court, where you make a decision before the last commercial," Baker said. "But you have to take the time to determine who is and who's not telling the truth." Main Street, appears on Sunday. If you have a story Idea suggeston, call Bill Osinskl.at 263 3853. County ordinary literally is told on the cramped walls of Baker's outer office, where pictures of most of his predecessors are displayed.

Also, he has preserved a set of copper measuring standards, relics of the times when the 19th century ordinary was relied upon to keep the tradesmen honest. "We try to keep it the way it was years ago," Baker said. "We think the folks appreciate it, when coming to court isn't imposing or frightening." Nevertheless, it's getting harder to keep the local justice system on a personal level. With a population of about 50,000, Newton County is one of the largest counties in the state where the probate court judge has so many duties. Besides handling legal matters of estates, Baker serves as elections supervisor, traffic, court judge and chief magistrate.

NEWTON Each week, fugitives who are being sought by the FBI and are thought to be in the Atlanta metro area are identified in this space. Many are considered armed and dangerous. Please call 679-9000 if you can help agents apprehend them. Suspect No. I is wanted in connection with multiple bank robberies in the Atlanta area since May 30.

He is about 30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 130 pounds, with dark receding hair and a thin mustache. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. i Suspect No. 2 is sought in connection with the Oct. 10 robbery of the Bank South branch at 411 Flat Shoals Ave.

in Atlanta. The suspect is believed to be between 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 11 inches tall, about 20 years old, with short black hair. Juan Macedo Castaneda is wanted in the slaying of his wife in North Carolina in 1993. John Charles Arbogast, 54, also known as "Rocky" or "Rebel," is suspected of distribution and possession of child pornography. He is 6 Itet tall and weighs 180 pounds.

Alan Cordon DALE E.DODSON Staff years and is only the 11th person to hold the office in Newton County since 1852. The office was termed the county ordinary until the early 20th century, when the office of probate court judge was established. The history of the iNewton.