Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 10

ro State EhtStmtngtaiNftw SATURDAY APRIL 29 2000 News briefs Weather 11A 12A 10A 1 Rebel flag raiser not charged AG says evidence not enough to stick dropping the case for political reasons He the two didn't want to anger Confederate sympathizers by bringing the case to trial said flag Years ago Holmes was among black lawmakers arrested when they tried to scale a fence surrounding the Capitol to remove the Confederate flag from the dome At the time the Capitol was being closed for renovations The flag came down in 1991 when renovations began and blade lawmakers sued to keep it off In 1993 a judge ruled that state law allows only the US and state flags to be flown on the dome Gov Jim Folsom Jr chose not to appeal and the flag now is displayed in the House chamber and at the nearby Confederate Memorial Holmes and others were convicted of trespassing but had the cases reversed on appeal He said based on the decision in the Teeter case going to take a thousand people out of my district and dimb up to the dome and have an NAACP meeting I'm going to sell hot Teeter said happy not to face a trial although would have been great for the He said he scaled the dome to make a political statement in support of the flag By MICHAEL SZNAJDERMAN News staff writer MONTGOMERY After taking three months to review the case Attorney General Bill Pryor has decided not to prosecute the man who scaled the Capitol dome and hoisted a Confederate flag i In a letter to Gov Don Siegelman Pryor said there was evidence to prosecute Johnny Teeter 30 of Montgomery Teeter admitted climbing to the top of the dome on Jan 15 Martin Luther King birthday and raising the Confederate battle flag He said he went through a locked door and at least two un-t locked hatches to reach the dome Pryor said Teeter would have faced a criminal trespassing charge if he had entered a fenced or going to take a thousand people out of my district and climb up to the dome and have an NAACP meeting Fm going to sell hot Stats Rep AMn Holmes to waterproof the dome which may have been why some doors were unlocked Pryor recommended that signs be installed denying access to restricted parts of the Capitol Carrie Kurlander spokeswoman for Siegelman said officials have boosted security inside the historic structure But Rep Alvin Holmes D-Montgomery wondered Friday whether Pryor and Siegelman were Cherry waits on release i from Texas By VAL WALTON News staff writer Bobby Frank Cherry will have to wait until Tuesday before learning whether he can be re- leased from a Texas jaiL Henderson County District Judge Jack Holland did not set bond for Cherry on Friday He must determine whether the Shelby County sex abuse charges Cherry faces are punishable by life in prison Shari Moore Henderson first assistant district attorney said if any of the eight charges Cherry faces carries a life sentence in Al-abama bond cannot be set Holland will consider the matter again Tuesday Cherry a former Birmingham resident and a longtime suspect in the 1963 bombing of Six- teenth Street Baptist Church has been charged in Shelby County with five counts of sexual assault two of rape and one of sodomy Shelby County officials have not identified a victim 40-year-old stepdaughter Gloria La-Dow last year told investigators Cherry mo- tested her between 1970 and 1972 He has long been suspected of being one of 1 several men responsible for the Sept 15 1963 bombing of the downtown Birmingham church where four girls were killed Now living in Mabank Texas Cherry was arrested Wednesday on a fugitive warrant stemming from the Shelby County charges He is be- ing held in the Henderson County jail Ms Moore said Cherry also indicated Friday he is going to fight his return to Alabama Efforts to reach attorney Don Smith of Gun Battle Texas Med as did efforts to reach Shelby District Attorney Robbie Owens posted area Because there were no signs or locked doors a charge stick he said At the time workers were completing a project Things are looking up I i I i i i i i i i i I i 125 years later still strong By KENT FAULK News staff writer HUNTSVILLE Solo Azuoma is among thou-sands of businessmen or cultural leaders in Af-rica who have a special tie to Huntsville The Nigerian businessman is an Alabama University alumnus is the most popular university known in the continent of said Azuoma who got bachelors and masters degrees from in the 1980s Because a number of alumni are in key posi- tions in politics Azuoma predicted at a news conference Friday an African nation likely will be led by an graduate within the next five years' Azuoma is among alumni from around the world who are in Huntsville this weekend to kick off a week-long series of events celebrating the 125th anniversary Of the approximately 5500 students about 300 are from outside the country said James Gamer coordinator for international students at During the late 1970s and 1980s however there were at least four times as many Gamer said The largest contingent was from Nigeria See Page 11A NEWS STAFFJOE S0NGER Ram one Paradise 4 and Serenity Pace 5 trajn their eyes on the heavens as a plane flies overhead during the 14th annual Eyes Pa- rade on Friday in North Birmingham Park The pre-schoolers in the parade dressed up in tuxedos and party dresses and had a The Almighty Eyes dub sponsors the annual parade as part of its mission of community improvement and drug awareness A froggy day in Birmingham I Bowen found guilty in former death worshippers from New life Assembly of God attending the trial each day Jurors heard about 40 witnesses and received so many pieces of evidence that their deliberations were held in a locked courtroom instead of the jury room Prosecutors told them from the outset that the evidence against Bowen was entirely circumstantial Assistant District Attorney Bill Bostick likened a circumstantial case to a rope: fact is like a strand As you add strands and twist them together the rope gets sense is what keeps this all from The prosecutors did not have a definite cause of death nor a murder weapon to bolster their case Details on which the prosecutors focused included the knots used to bind her body before it was dumped weighted with chains into the river Witnesses described how Bowen an avid backpacker and wilderness camper habitually secured his gear with a series of bowline slip and square knots the same combination used to bind Mrs wrists and ankles Head said he would set a sentencing date after a pre-sentence investigation is completed Bowen can be sentenced to 10 yerfcs to life By NANCY WILSTACH i News staff writer After deliberating nearly 10 hours a i Shelby County jury Friday convicted Jerry Lee Bowen 52 of intentional mur-i der in the death of his ex-wife Brenda 1 Bowen 44 of Westover were no James Breckenridge Mrs father said after the verdict He said he and his family for the truth and nothing but the during the two-week trial lawyers said they are filing a motion for a new trial Bowen had been free on $75000 bond but his bond was revoked when Chief Assistant District Attorney Randy Hillman told Circuit Judge Oliver Head that property pledged against the bond had been sold 1 Bowen was taken to the Shelby County jail after the 11:15 am verdict Head set an appeal bond of $150000 Mrs Bowen disappeared from her rural home Jaa 28 1997 Her car was found that night about five miles away abandoned in the woods Her body surfaced two months later on a riverbank Mrs sister Gale Dickey said her sister was special person She loved everybody and cared about every-' That love was demonstrated in return throughout the trial with more than two dozen of Mrs fellow NEWS STAFFJOE SONGER Laura Craig of Philadelphia and her 2-year-old daugh- Linn Park downtown on Friday The 17th edition of the ter Hannah take in Robert Taylor's display of yard art annual art fair will continue from K) am to 6 pm to-" frogs and lizards at the Magic City Art Connection in day and Sunday i -i.