Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 21

Birmingham Post-I lerald Tuesday March 21 1989 Trial begins for woman in slaying of ex-husband Texas 'speed7 queen claims self-defense in shooting death By Nick Patterson Fotf-Hcrald Reporter To the Jefferson County jurors trying her on a murder charge this week the demure graying Edna Sloan Davis may hardly look the part of a killer But then she also hardly looks the part Texas authorities know her for "Mama the Lone Star State's pistol-packing queen of the methamphetamine or trade Mrs Davis has a life sentence for drug trafficking and is known as the head of an extensive speed-cooking and selling organization whose members are sometimes prone to violence But jurors in Circuit Judge James court know that and probably find out as she is tried in the slaying of ex-husband Charles Davis Nor are they likely to learn about the speed manufacturing laboratory found under the house trailer the victim and defendant shared in Irondale Testimony begins today in the Jan 23 1986 shooting death of Davis 47 which Mrs Davis said was in self-defense Mrs Davis also is charged with violating the Alabama Uniform Controlled Substances Act after Irondale police confiscated amphetamine-containing substances and a glass funnel with an amphetamine-containing residue on it But Hard ruled yesterday that those charges will be tried at a later date In Texas Mrs Davis 49 has been sentenced to 99 During a hearing before jury selection yesterday Mrs Davis could be heard on a tape recording telling Iron-dale Sgt Johnny King that she killed Davis in self-defense The hearing was held so Circuit Judge James Hard could decide whether jurors will be allowed to hear that statement In the statement Mrs Davis spoke rapidly in a rambling manner as she told King of ho1 suspicions that Davis and an unseen confederate would kill her killed Charles I just shot him with a gun he was trying to kill me I knew they were under the house all the weird noise a long time and Charles would say he hear the noise and he called me all kinds of names and said I was crazy and I knew I wasn't Mrs Davis said she smelled ether which can be used in processing speed and saw a but gave no indication she knew what it was She said that although divorced she and Davis had been living together in Irondale about a week She said Davis went outside started his truck then came back inside and came toward her just went to she told King Mrs Fields said Davis the victim was genial most of the time but had a temper fought often and threatened Mrs Davis was quite a few times she had to hold a gun on him to slow him down enough to make him she said years in prison on a drug trafficking charge that was reinstated on appeal last week Texas authorities charged that she ran a major drug trafficking organization A story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Mrs Davis quoted Texas Department of Public Safety narcotics agent Danny Smith as saying had it in her mind that she would have the biggest and baddest organization Another narcotics officer Ken Akins was quoted as calling her of the primary amphetamine sources in this But Mrs first cousin Jean Fields of Hayden said the defendant has a good side and a generous heart a person Kate was really Mrs Fields said a lot of good in Mrs Fields said Mrs Davis would take in children ami others who had no place to stay and that she often would give money to people in need used to think of her as a female Robin Hood I did know done some shoplifting before She was always robbing the rich and giving to the poor She was a very generous Mrs Fields said she did not know about Mrs drug troubles until her conviction in Texas Charles slaying occurred before Mrs Davis was convicted in Texas although her drug-related activities there are believed to have begun earlier said Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Don Russell Russell is prosecuting Mrs Davis on the murder charge Chuck Davis hugs his mother Edna Sloan Davis before the jurors enter the courtroom knew that Charles had a temper He was a really nice guy when he mad (If) he lost control come at you with his bare hands" Mrs Fields said ever whupped him in a fight He'd fight till he was unconscious and nobody ever knocked him Off center Police hope driving-safety film opens teens' eyes 'That's the idea behind our film nothing preachy just helping them think about the big picture the consequences of what you're doing on yourself the people in your car and the people you leave Capt Nick Derzis Hoover police By Steve Joynt Fotf-HcnM Reporter By becoming movie producers Hoover police said they hope to stem the growing number of teenagers perishing on their roadways Two more young lives were added to that number over the weekend and yesterday students at John Carroll High School attempted to deal with the loss of their two classmates think a gloom over the whole said Rebecca Sullivan principal of the Roman Catholic high school sure the students will pull through You can really feel the faith community pulling Suzan Allison Marinelli 16 of 1309 Wayne Drive Hoover died when her Volkswagen Thing went out of control and flipped at 8 pm Sunday on Blue Ridge Boulevard in Hoorn Bryan Joseph Madonia 16 of 3532 William A Mary Road died about four hours later of injuries received in the crash The driver of the vehicle Miss 19-year-old brother Nicholas received minor injuries He told police that he had swerved to avoid a dog crossing the road and police said evidence supported that No indications of alcohol or excessive speed were discovered police said yesterday Several priests went to John Carroll to offer counseling yesterday Dr Sullivan said and a memorial mass for the two juniors was held there in the morning important for us to get back to a normal schedule she said will begin our exams (today) as scheduled Keeping their minds busy should help ease the Still police and school authorities said it is hoped the youngsters learn something through their pain that will help them become better drivers the idea behind our film nothing preachy just helping them think about the big picture the consequences of what you're doing on yourself the people In your car and the people you leave Hoover Capt Nick Derzis said The 15-minute film titled Is Not Promised" centers on the August 1987 single-car accident that killed four teenagers Made with the help of WVTM-TV Channel 13 the film includes interviews with the mother of one of the accident vic- tims and Gov Guy Hunt as well as photographs of the wreckage accident really hit hone with the guys on the Derzis said lot of us sat down and talked about things we could possibly da We all thought of those films from the 1950s still used in education classes and thought we could do something to bring the point across a lot This major difference Derzis said is that the Hoover film does not rely on the graphic of accident scenes used in so many education films "We tried to treat teenagers as adults and emphasize the responsibilities they have" Derzis emphasised that police have not determined any fault in accident but he did say that drivers should not swerve to miss small animals Also the occupants of the automobile were not wearing seat belts which had they been worn authorities said may have saved lives of major importance to us that kids are losing their lives in our Hoover Chief David Cummings said the kinds of attitudes promoting with this film have already been instilled by parents only trying to reinforce those attitudes with this certainly grim reminder kind of thing is really disturbing and upsetting to parents and you want to build a plastic bubble around them to keep them Cummings said best you can do though is teach them how to deal with things The final version of the film should be ready in a week Derzis said at which time the department will show it to the parents Of the 1987 victims It will then be submitted to the Hoover school board to be considered for use in education classes ByMFartqr Delma Greer of Bessemer waits for a forklift to arrive to to avoid hitting a car on northbound Interstate 59 Greer center his felt cargo that he said shifted after he swerved stayed Sunday night until help arrived yesterday Channel 13 rated the newscast king of Red Mountain for now ITVnewsTratings Two national ratings firms survey Birmingham ara housebote to determine viewership of programs AjC Nielsen Cm and Arbitral Ratine Gx both are based in New Yak Both companies ask viewers to keep diaries of what they watch The ratings companies survey area viewers in February May July and November February 1989 results show Chanel news Aow leads at 5 pm Channel 6 at 6 pm and Chamd 13 at 10 pm ratings to the same period show Channel 13 ahead at 5 pm chamds 6 and 13 tied at 6 pm and Charnel 13 ahead at 10 pm By Michaelle Chapman Psat-Hwild Reporter The seesaw of popularity between local news programs on Birmingham television took anotho1 tilt last month Results of surveys by two national television ratings organizations show WVTM-TV Channel 13 had a slight lead over WBRC-TV Channel 6 and WBMG-TV Channel 42 was a distant third Both the Nielsen and Arbitral ratings for February show Channel 13 as the leader at 5 pm and 10 pm The Nielsen figures have Channel 6 slightly ahead at 6 pm while Arbitron data shows it tied with Channel 13 in that time slot to say we're said Tom Roberts Channel 13's news director He said he expects the hot competition between the two stations to continue never can really explain why we lose or why we he said think the biggest reason why we win is we have darn good people" Channel 6 News Director Steve Minium had a similar refrain have some excellent people on staff" Minium said He said using Brenda Ladun ai the anchorwoman at 5 pm has freed up Janet Hall to do an Alabama spotlight feature during that newscast and still read the 5 share The Arbitral ratings indicate Channel 42 which restarted its news department in January 1987 more than two years after dropping it is failing to draw as many viewers for its newscasts as independent WTTO-TV Channel 21 does with syndicated reruns at 5 pm on Channel 21 had a 5 rating and 9 share in February compared with Channel 42's 2 rating and 4 share At 10 pm Channel 21 captured a 4 rating and 8 share compared with Channel 42's 3 rating and 5 share But Hoyle Broome Channel general manager said he believes Channel 42's 10 pm actually does much better than the ratings indicate The station paid Arbitral to do a telephone survey to coincide with the last week of the overall survey he said The extra survey gave Channel late news a 10 rating and 18 share for the Birmingham metro area he said Arbitron includes 17 counties around Jefferson County in its overall surveys Broome said he believes Channel 42's 10 pm news draws in about 14 percent of viewers in the wider area Arbitron's overall survey used 399 diaries which were given to viewers who filled in information on what they watched Broome said the additional telephone sup news as anchorwoman at 6 and 10 pm gives our program a different look and a different feel" Minium said Channel 6 Program Director Terry Hudson said the two stations always run neck and neck and Channel 6 has been helped by viewers who continue watching after the Winfrey at 3:30 pm Being ahead in ratings is good news because advertisers use ratings to help them decide where to place advertisements Roberts said higher the rating the more we can charge for an advertisement in our news It should mean some more advertising revenue for us" he said "Stations use it to make their own decisions to find out who watches them so they can go out and solicit Arbitron spokeswoman phelly Cagner said Arbitron and Nielsen survey television viewers in the Birmingham area every February May July and November The area cited by Nielsen includes 550390 television households while area has 516200 television households In the Arbitron ratings for 5 pm the Channel 13 news had a 21 rating and a 38 share Channel 6 had an 18 rating and S3 share and WBMG Channel 42 captured a 2 rating and 4 share Ms Cagner said In television rating terminology the rating is the percentage of households with televisions that were watching a particular program while the share is the percentage of households that are watching television that are viewing a specific channel Ms Cagner said Nielsen figures confirmed by a company spokeswoman show a close race in the 5 pm slot They indicate Channel 13 had a 20 rating and 36 share Channel 6 has a 20 rating and 35 share and Channel 42 had a 2 rating and 4 share Arbitron's results to 6 pm show channels 6 and 13 were balanced with each holding an 18 rating and 29 share But Nielsen showed Channel 6 ahead with a 19 rating and 29 share compared with a 17 rating and 26 share for Channel 13 Channel 42 has no news at 6 pm The two ratings services agree however that Channel 13 was the leader at 10 pm but disagreed on the size of its lead Arbitral shows Channel 13 with a 21 rating and 41 share Channel late news grabbed a 15 rating and 30 share while Channel 42 held only a 3 rating and 5 share Ms Cagner said The Nielsen figures give Channel 13 an 18 rating and 37 share Channel 6 a 15 rating and 31 share and Channel 42 a 3 rating and vev got information from 520 households The Channel 42 executive said he believes the additional survey is more accurate because the calls were made during the newscasts while viewers using diaries often wait until the end of the week to fill out their logs and may not recall correctly Broome said Channel 42 will stick with its news operation go into a commitment of this form on a short-term basis" he said.