The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 154

6A THE HERALD THURSDAY MAYS 1994 bro Jury: Life sentence for Hamwi 17 i tr Panel spares him from Herald file photo Pool photo also faces possible life sentence Associated Press HOSPITALIZED: Randall Robinson was growing weaker on 23rd day of his fast against US policy on Haitian refugees After South Africa activist turns his attention to Haiti Says Clinton policy is racist HELPED IN MURDER: Paul Serio CJ i Death Row HAMWI FROM 1A juror Charlotte Sloboda said in an interview could have been prevented by John During the trial the defense hinted that Purvis who was fond of Susan Hamwi and often popped up at odd times may have entered the home after the intruders left And jurors said they heard evidence convincing them Purvis had been there were six or seven things that led us to believe he was in the house between the death of Susan and the death of said John Mierlcy the jury foreman brother James Michael Bartlett said the jurors' assertion is just the latest of many injustices brother was never in the house I care what they think No way" Bartlett said wasn't surprised they said it My brother's been getting the shaft since 1983 It will never end for Bartlett had wanted death for Hamwi wanted to see them get what they had coming not only for killing the lady but for letting my brother sit rotting in prison for nine years for a crime he didn't Bartlett said Purvis was convicted of Susan Hamwi's murder after giving a rambling confession that didn't match key facts of the case He was freed after one of the hit men Robert Beckett had heart problems found religion and confessed Beckett said Paul Hamwi his drinking buddy and golfing pal hired him to Susan Hamwi for a fee of $14000 The deal was struck after a Colorado judge ordered Hamwi a developer to pay his wife and child $180000 in alimony and child support Hamwi had Susan sign a prenuptial agreement on the way to their wedding but the judge ruled it invalid In his closing arguments Wednesday prosecutor Ralph Ray Jr said the murder was about money "Mr Hamwi will probably never kill another person again in his Ray said he marries them and makes them 41 ti i y-v fjttY 4 V' WRONGLY CONVICTED: John Purvis served 9 years scene didn't appear the way he remembered it Sloboda said all 12 jurors believed Purvis was in the house Mierlcy cited some of the evidence: Purvis identified the color of Susan Hamwi's underwear and the medical examiner found sperm in her body even though both Beckett and Serio said they didn't have sex ith her However prosecutor Anthony Loc said there will be no further investigation into Purvis On the question of life or death jurors took about four hours to recommend life for Hamwi They made the same recommendation Monday for Serio Broward Circuit Judge Howard Zeidwig set sentencing for June 24 Judges almost always follow jurors' recommendations in first-degree murder cases Hamwi had asked to be spared Death Row His lawyer David Bogcnschutz cited his work in the Special Olympics with the deaf as a volunteer fireman and as a Marine When the life recommendations were read Wednesday Hamwi made a small smile and put- his hand to Bogenschutz's arm Hamwi took the stand Tuesday to proclaim his innocence a statement that a lot of jurors Sloboda said "Life in prison to him might be more of a punishment" Sloboda said "Being confined to a life in prison for 25 years he would suffer and he would pay for the death of Susan and "It was the most terrible decision he ever made but he did make it and lie did have -two other people act on it" 1 Herald file photo VICTIMS: Susan Hamwi was strangled stabbed and pistol-whipped on Nov 1 1983 Her baby daughter Shane died of dehydration after the hit man started cooperating with authorities Beckett says killed your and Hamwi responds: "I'll always be your friend I'll always be there for The walls of the jury room were plastered with pieces of paper And the room was filled with some tears reached down into their soul and their gut and it was very said Sloboda realized how really important it was for us to do the right thing and we all feel we did During his testimony at trial Beckett said pictures of the crime sign a prenuptial agreement that is Beckett who got his pal Serio to help make the hit was given immunity for testifying After a 10-weck trial and 6 days of emotional deliberations jurors on March 23 found Hamwi and Serio guilty of first-degree murder in Susan's death But they speak publicly until Wednesday after their punishment recommendation In Paul Hamwi's case jurors listed 14 possible doubts about the evidence then methodically eliminated them one by one foreman Mierlcy said Key was a taped phone call between Beckett and Hamwi Yvb ft v) Jxr" purchase the former German embassy near Dupont Circle Last year it opened a reference library research bureau educational program and lobbying effort Robinson who has traveled widely shaped the programs was always from my earliest memory interested in Africa and the Robinson said in an interview last year with The Washington Post it was so distorted: Tarzan in the trees racist depictions I wanted to discover myself what the world was like that world from which my forebears Robinson is a recognizable figure on Capitol Hill an elegant man with a resonant voice that echoes that of his brother Max the former ABC News anchorman who died in 1988 He has touches of gray in his mustache and the temples of his close-cropped hair He was lean when he started his fast 194 pounds on a 6-feet 5-inch frame By Wednesday he had lost more than a dozen pounds He spent his time in the basement of headquar- ters resting on a double bed or in a lounge chair White House listening His health and his comments are carefully monitored by the White House the State Department and other agencies who are crazy with in the words of one knowledgeable congressional aide don't want me to die They know not a loony Em a centrist figure doing Robinson said He also has longstanding ties to several top administration figures including Samuel Berger the deputy national security adviser who was a law school classmate Berger and another National Security Council aide Morton Hal-perin met with Robinson on Sunday but could not convince him to call off his fast That level of concern is in sharp contrast to that given Katherine Dunham the famed dancer and choreographer ho fasted for 47 days in 1 992 at age 82 to protest Bush-era policy toward Haiti She became a heroine to Haitians but had little impact in Washington fast has energized the unfocused efforts of people and groups that had made only sporadic attempts to change US policy toward Haiti even the Congressional Black Caucus Five caucus members joined by Rep Joe Kennedy the Massachusetts Democrat met with Robinson before they staged a protest at the White House and got arrested on April 21 While press secretary Dee Dee Myers says Clinton admires depth of Randall commitment on this the White House and State Department have refused to reconsider the forced-repatriation policy ROBINSON FROM 1A stinging charge that racism is at the root of today's policy just as when US leaders refused to oppose South African apartheid Robinson expresses bitter disappointment with Clinton who reversed a campaign pledge to end George Bush's policy of returning to their violence-wracked homeland all Haitians picked up at sea order that Coast Guard cutters patrol off Haiti to intercept boat people more egregiously cruel than the Bush Robinson said in a bedside interview with The Herald the day before he was hospitalized Clinton has created dragnet to throw people back into a killing request is very simple that the president do what he promised to do in the campaign and grant hearings and to those seeking political asylum Robinson said member nations of the family of nations have an to do that do less makes the US and our president complicit in the murder of Robinson who has consumed only water and fruit juice since April 12 w'as described as lightheaded Wednesday due to dehydration and an elevated pulse Earlier he had aches in his joints and tired easily has stated publicly that he's willing to die for this Everyone who knows him knows he's a man of his said Rick Swartz a Washington lawyer who has worked with Robinson Founded in 1976 Robinson helped found TransAfrica in 1976 A native of Richmond Va who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1970 he became its executive director after stints on the staffs of two black congressmen As the leading African-American foreign policy institute TransAfrica made its name and reputation by leading the effort to impose economic sanctions on South Africa's apartheid government Robinson was arrested seven times during daily protests in front of the South African embassy that involved members of Congress celebrities and activists He was also an effective behind-the-scenes lobbyist In 1986 Congress overrode a veto by President Reagan to impose the sanctions TransAfrica's success brought it credibility and support Board members included actor Bill Cosby and the late tennis star Arthur Ashe as well as political leaders and veterans of the civil rights struggle Star-studded fund-raising events allowed TransAfrica to i All items subject to prior sale Quantities are limited SoirynoCOD'sor layaways Delivery service available for a charge Items advertised are readily available! 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