Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 9

Hirminsham Post-Herald Attorney for Adkins files motion to dismiss capital murder charge Post offices slash hours of operation Making it to the post office on time will become slightly more tricky for Bir-mimgham area residents this weekend when a broad reduction of postal window hours begins Saturday hours will be eliminated at all but four area post offices in response to massive US Postal Service budget cuts retail window adjustments are part of a nationwide effort to reduce operating costs and are necessary to comply with deficit-reduction legislation passed in Birmingham Postmaster Bob Davis said in a prepared statement The Cnter Point Ensley South Highland and Hoover branches will remain open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm and Saturdays from 8:30 am to 1 pjn Other post offices will be open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm with tte following exceptions: Main office Closed Saturdays open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 7 pm East Lake Closed Saturdays Woodlawn Closes Wednesday at 12:30 pm and closed Saturdays Crestline Closed Saturdays Avondale Closes Tuesdays at 12:30 pm and closed Saturdays Cahaba Heights Closed Saturdays North Birmingham Closes Tuesdays at 12:30 pm and closed Saturdays Fairview Closed Saturdays West End Closed Saturdays Pratt City Closes Thursdays at 12:30 pm and closed Saturdays Tarrant Closed Saturdays Midfield Closed Saturdays Wylam Closed Saturdays Bluff Park Closed Saturdays Homewood Closed Saturdays Vestavia Closed Saturdays Mountain Brook Closed Saturdays By Steve Joynt Port-HcnU Reporter The attorney for accused killer Ricky Dale Adkins began his first barrage of motions yesterday with seven of them including one requesting the dismissal of the capital murder indictment against Adkins In January a St Clair County grand jury issued a three-part indictment charging Adkins with killing Pelham real estate broker Billie Dean Hamilton after kidnapping robbing and raping her The indictment accused Adkins of killing Mrs Hamilton striking her with a wrench andor stabbing her or cutting her with a Adkins was arrested in Augusta Ga Jan 18 the same day Mrs Hamilton's body was found about 100 yards off Interstate 20 in St Clair County In moving to have the indictment dismissed attorney Michael Barrett charged that it was indefinite and uncertain in its allegations and averments" Separate motions request that case be remanded to district court and a preliminary hearing be scheduled And a fourth motion requests the suppression of statements Adkins may have made to law enforcement officials been some discussion by the prosecuting attorneys in the press about a statement Ricky allegedly made" Barrett said during a press conference in his office yesterday have alleged that if any statement was taken it was done so in violation of his constitutional SL Clair County Coroner Charles Forman told several reporters last month he was told by county District Attorney Van Davis that Adkins had admitted to sexually assaulting Mrs Hamilton and then killing her by hitting her on the head with a wrench Upon his return from Augusta Davis declined to comment on Adkins' statement But Shelby County District Attorney Mike Campbell who went to Augusta with Davis said a statement was made by Adkins though don't think call it a confession because I consider a confession to be a full disclosure of the facts of the The other motions filed by Barrett yesterday involved requests for discovery visitation rights and a bond hearing Barrett said he has not made a decision about whether or not he will make a motion to change the venue of the case He described Adkins as though he's doing about as well as can be expected under the Mrs Hamilton 36 an award-winning broker with CKM Realty was last seen the night of Jan 17 when she was showing houses in the Riverchase area to a man who claimed to be a customer Witnesses said she was riding with the man in his black Ford Bronco with Texas license tags When police captured Adkins at a hotel in Augusta they recovered a vehicle matching that description that was stolen from Lubbock Texas Adkins 22 of Lubbock was on probation for a 1988 auto theft conviction at the time of his arrest Since his arrest last month Adkins has had some contact with relatives in Texas Barrett said A hearing date has been tentatively scheduled for Feb 19 in St Clair County Circuit Court Barrett said Blacks fare well at Alabama polls except in statewide races 4 Sower 1IS0 US Craw BjfTlwSrtl By Frank Bruer Port-HtnM Montgomery Bwm MONTGOMERY Alabama has the highest percentage of elected black officials in the nation But only one black has ever been elected to statewide office in the 169-year history of the state That official is Oscar Adams associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Adams was appointed to the court in 1980 by Gov Fob James to fill a vacancy He ran for the seat in 1982 and won Other black politicians in the state said the future of blacks in statewide races depends on several factors The consensus is that a black will not be elected governor in the foreseeable future but may be able to win a lesser constitutional office Blade leaders also agree a Mack who wins statewide office in the next few years will have to be exceptionally qualified and generally unscarred by racially polarizing dashes The Adams case suggested some blacks may provide a formula for the next blacks to rise to statewide office: win an appointment to fill a vacancy and then win an election after they have proven themselves think whites have objected to blacks supporting their candidates I would think ad optimistic view is that a qualified black candidate can win if be wages a good campaign and men of good will support him good for the state is good for the white said farmer state Rep Fred Gray a Tub-kegee attorney Gray and state Rep Thomas Reed of Tuskegee in 1970 became the first blacks elected to the Alabama Legislature since Reconstruction State Sen Earl Hilliard D-Birmingham now in his 14th year In the Legislature said blacks might not have a chance of winning the governor's seat any time in the foreseeable future think there are some races that could be run like the state treasurer or secretary of Hilliard said But he said success would require high visibility may have to be someone who has been appointed to office where people have come to realise they are a good person where people know the person just like Oscar he said a case of the attorney general secretary of state even lieutenant governor they will have to be moved up by resignation and appointment something like that Just to move for it (the office) there is too much distrust and too much prejudice in the Hilliard said State Rep John Rogers D-Birmingham said it may be too early for blacks to win outright in a statewide contest for constitutional offices although he thinks there may be statewide candidates in 1990 He said there has been talk about a black running for lieutenant governor in 1990 But such a candidate probably would be a long shot Rogers said would depend upon whether a person running for governor would be a strong enough person to support and carry a (black) person on the ticket and say want this person to be on the I cant figure a (white) person doing that because even though he may like the person running be afraid to take the chance" Rogers said State Rep James Thomas DSelma is optimistic about chances to statewide office He too thinks it would have to be a lesser constitutional office such as auditor secretary of state treasurer agriculture commissioner or possibly the Public Service Commission feel the climate is such that the rignt person could possibly Thomas said "He must have the ability to coalesce with all segments He must deal with business farmers lawyers labor I think there are those who can do that Before this the climate just has not been Sen Fred Horn D-Birmingham in his 10th year in the Legislature also foresees the day when Adams will not be the only black elected to statewide office Horn is chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee considered one of the most powerful posts in the Senate an excellent chance It will take a person with personality and a record of earning it It must be a likable candidate who has the respect and attention of white voters" be said Jerome Gray state field director of the Alabama Democratic Conference a black political group headed by Joe Reed of Montgomery is not quite as sure the state has reached the stage where a black can be elected to statewide office numbers are just not there We still have polarized voting Because of that black candidates are not willing to submit themselves for statewide office The record is so dear that blacks have not had success in at-large Gray said But he is quick to take issue with some outside critics of elections have Mack governors or black (U S) senators in other states Polarization isn't just in the South Gray said He said the only blacks elected in at-large elections in the North and other areas have been under special circumstances have been in highly visible positions and seen in earlier positions as effective Gray said The Joint Center of Political Studies reported last November blacks hold 108 percent of all local state and federal elected offices in Alabama Blacks make up about 229 percent of the voting age population Nationally blacks hold less than 15 percent of all elective offices while making up 11 percent of the country's total population the survey reported But even that figure of 448 elected blacks credited to Alabama was misleading according to Gray The state actually has 858 elected black officials according to an ADC count There are five Macks in the 35-member state Senate and 19 Macks in the 105-member House of Representatives Blacks are mayors of 32 cities hold 258 city council or commission spots and serve in 60 county commissioner positions according to the ADC count The ADC count also includes 70 blacks on the State Democratic Executive Committee and 300 serving on county Democratic executive committees The ADC filed a federal lawsuit seeking district elections for cities counties and school boards all over the state Gray predicted that when the lawsuit is finally disposed of the number of elected Macks in the state will be more than 1000 But electing a black statewide in Alabama is impossible if voting is done along racial lines since blacks make up only 23 percent of the registered voters in the state Adams managed to get substantial white support when he ran for a full term on the Alabama Supreme Court He led a three-man ticket in the Democratic primary but found himself in a tough runoff with Jim Zeigler a month later Largely through endorsements of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association and a significant bloc of Alabama Bar Association leaders Adams won the runoff by a 436462 to 419789 margin Others been as fortunate In 1978 the ADC threw its support behind Leola Smith of Birmingham as a black candidate for secretary of state She failed to make the Democratic primary runoff that involved Don Siegelman and Martha Adams but she did receive 77382 votes and carried four Black Belt counties In 1982 White Hall Mayor John Jackson threw his hat in the ring as an independent black candidate in an already crowded field of six other gubernatorial candidates in the general election Jackson received only 4693 votes in an election that focused mainly on Gov George Wallace and Republican Montgomery Mayor Emmy Folmar The highest umber of votes received by a black candidate came 18 years ago when the National Democratic Party of Alabama splintered out of the Alabama Democratic Party and ran a large slate of blacks for state and local offices Huntsville dentist John Cashin ran second to Wallace in a six-man field of gubernatorial candidates that included no Republicans Cashin received 125491 votes compared to Wallace's 637046 Black leaden agreed that a successful black candidate for a statewide office would have to be politically unscarred in the civil rights movements someone on the cutting edge" They mentioned Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington James White a prominent black CPA and state revenue commissioner during last term Jefferson County Circuit Judge John Cook and US District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery blacks who might find success in a statewide race would take a super Hilliard said Black employees a rare sight in Alabama's corner of Capitol Hill Adcock guess it's just happenstance more than anything Spokeswoman Olivia Barton said Bevill would gladly hire blacks but has little turnover and rarely gets the chance She said she was the most recent staff addition and she has worked to Bevill for about IV years Callahan aide Rick Heartsill said that when Callahan entered Congress in 1985 only bad one black apply She was qualified and was but quit after about 18 months when had openings since that time which hasn't been all that often no other blacks have exprereed an By John Brinkley Fwt-HcnM WwUnftoa Bwtaa WASHINGTON There are more than 1 million blacks in Alabama better than a quarter of the population and their numbers are reflected by the presence of 24 blacks in the Legislature and hundreds more in local offices But in Washington the face of Alabama officialdom remains decidedly wMte There is no black Alabamian in a position of power or influence in the federal bureaucracy There are no blacks among Alabama's two senators and seven House members some of whan serve districts that are between one-quarter anft one- Only two of members of Congress have black employees in top staff positions Democratic Sen Howell Heflin whose legislative director is black and Rep Ben Erdreich D-Birmingham who has a black press secretary Heflin whose staff in Washington and Alabama numbers about 40 employs seven blacks including legislative director Mansel Long Heflin also employs a black woman Mary Stansel in the midlevel position of legislative assistant Democratic Sen Richard Shelby has about 30 employees eight of them black Two Phyllis Hallmon and Wendell Chambliss are gislative assistants Spokesman BelindJ Baggett said Shelby pledged when elected in 1986 that 25 percent of his staff would be Mack In addition to his press secretary Debra Curry Erdreich's personal secretary is black and he employs two blacks in his Birmingham office He has 14 staffers altogether Ms Curry said Rep Claude Harris' legislative assistant for agricultural affairs is Sam Taylor a black from Marengo County who ran against Harris and seven other candidates in the 1986 Democratic primary Harris D-Tuscaloosa also employs two blacks in his district office including office manager China Davidson He has a total of 13 ohis staff Please lira to BLACKS page B3 third black And of the approximately 160 people who work for them the overwhelming majority are white Three congressmen Democrats Ronnie Flippo of Florence and Tom Bevill of Jasper and Republican Sonny Callahan of Mobile have no blacks on their Washington staffs Of those three only Flippo has a Mack working in a state office a Krt-time employee in Huntsville Spo-smen for all three congressmen said there had been one or more blacks on their staffs in the past had black staff members in the past but we try to go out and hire somebody because thev're black or said Flippo spokesman Mike.