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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA — SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1994 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 price
30 GENTS
Seagroves Free
n Jamal Elliott — Michael Seagroves Case
Durham Committee Contacts Justice Dept.
'Jorth Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley announced Tues-
y, January 25, at a news conference in his office in Raleigh, that
ichael Seagroves would NOT be retried for shooting Jamal Elliott
the back in March of this year. Dropped were charges against
agroves of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly
sapon.
ji December, a Durham County jury deadlocked 8-4 for aquittai.
aiming that evidence in the case was too weak to win a conviction,
sley said he was "convinced that the state cannot obtain a unani-
lus verdict of guilty in this case."
I'ollowing is the unabridged statement of Kenneth B. Spaulding,
airman, Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, issued
esday, January 25:
t is a shame and a disgrace that the Attorney General’s Office would
e such an unprecedented double standard of justice action in this par
tial case. This case obviously should have been retried and decided by
try, not by a politician. Due to the high emotions involved, this case
mid have been retried in another County as provided for under North
rolina law. This was not even attempted in this case, even though, the
I is well settled in this regard.
1 pur democracy, our Constitution provides for matters such as this to
tried before a judge and jury. Our state law provides for highly emo-
lal cases to be moved a different location so that a fair and impartial
irtnay be held.
,t a time that so many of us in our black and white communities are
pressing the issue of crime and the causes of crime, this type of double
riard of justice truly works against our efforts. We have been trying
all of our community involved in supporting our system of justice
iinst this epidemic of crime that is sweeping all of our communities.
Attorney General’s action plays right into the hands of those who
Blantly are saying that the legal system is not to be trusted.
Sfe in the black community are not goktg to stop our aggressive efforts
lighting against the epidemic of black on black crime, yet we also are
going to be muzzled or intimidated from speaking out against or
iting against double-standards of justice. The Attorney General’s ac-
1 in this case clearly represents a double standard of justice. I must
, however, that this type of action by the Attorney General’s Office is
ictly why we in the black community must work to control our own
tiny. We cannot depend on hypocritical politicians to stand up for
li and justice, when their own spines are weak from hypocrisy and
bition.
his action is spineless and hypocritical. Spineless because the At-
itev General’s Office was afraid to re-try a tough case. Hypocritical
alise the same politicians cry for law and order, yet now tell black and
ite Durhamites alike, that we can take the law into our own hands by
te with precision four bullets into one’s back. To me, wrong is wrong.
I citizens must display more guts and fortitude for law, order and jus-
I since our politicians won’t.
■lacks and whites, alike, must stand up against crime with great
olve, but blacks and whites alike, must also stand up against "double
adards of justice" regardless of whomever is involved.
Bowing is the unedited content of a letter sent Wednesday, Janu-
26, to Acting Direetor James Turner, Civil Rights Division, U.S.
artment of Justice, Washington, D.C., signed by Kenneth B.
idding, chairman of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of
:k People; Rev. Percy R. Chase, president. Interdenominational
isterial Alliance; and, James C. Black, president of the Durham
nch NAACP:
1 or about March 18, 1993, a 15 year old citizen, Jamal Elliott, was
in the back four times and killed as he was fleeing the scene of a ga-
break-in at the home of another Durham citizen, Michael Seagroves.
lael Seagroves was charged by a Durham County Grand Jury with
ntary manslaughter. Another teenager was also shot by this same in-
id individual at the same time and place,
Durham County Superior Court deadlocked by a vote of four for
y and eight for not,guilty. The North Carolina Attorney General’s
:e, after taking telephone calls and letters as allegedly one of the
Its of making a decision for a re-trial, refused to follow the customary
edure in North'Carolina of having a re-trial when one’s life has been
1. Many now feel that vigilante justice has now been sanctioned by
Jorth Carolina Attorney General’s Office in this state. This state ac-
threatens the very civil rights of all of our citizens black or white,
action also threatens the very foundation of our system of justice,
e Attorney General’s action has now brought about arguably, state
a as it relates to a possible civil rights violation in this case. There
been serious issues raised about the Attorney General’s prosecution
le case initially, and now there are even more alarming questions
t the Attorney General’s refusal to re-try the case,
e District Attorney and the Grand Jury of Durham County fulfilled
responsibilities in the State of North Carolina v. Michael Seagroves
However, there are now serious questions that exist regarding not
Michael Seagroves’ possible violation of the deceased’s civil rights.
Iso whether the State of North Carolina through the Attorney Gener-
affice has now become a part of a possible violation of a citizen’s
rights.
: ^e asking you to investigate all of the circumstances in this case,
Bing but not limited to: 1) the actions of Michael Seagroves, 2) the
J preparation and presentation of evidence by the North Carolina At-
y General’s office in refusing to perform its sworn duties which are
rect opposition to the previous actions of the Durham County Dis-
Attomey and the Durham County Grand Jury. Issues are now blatant
teir face which cause serious concerns by blacks and whites that a
Pamela Reed talks with pre-schoolers about art. See
story on page 5. (Photo by Trent)
Janet Reno Says Crime
Fights Begins With
Children
(AP) - Police and judges can’t stem crime by themselves, but must be
joined by parents, teachers and community leaders, U.S. Attorney Gener
al Janet Reno said.
The solution to crime is not more prison cells or indiscriminate stiffer
sentencing, but must involve efforts to bring stability, safety and educa
tion to the lives of all children and families, Reno said in a speech Satur
day at Duke University.
"If preventing crime is soft on crime, then I am guilty," said Reno, who
spoke at a student-organized conference titled "Frontiers of Legal
Thought." "Unless we come together as one directed whole, we are going
to fail," Reno said.
The attorney general faulted the public, and lawyers in particular, for a
narrow view of their responsibilities.
Lawyers engaged in criminal law can’t think only about courtroom out
comes, but must concern themselves with services available to the people
who enter that system, whether it be drug counseling, housing aid, job
training or adequate medical care, she said.
Likewise, Reno said, teachers can’t concern themselves only with what
occurs in classrooms, but must know whether their young students are
unattended after school. If that’s the case, they should push for more
after-school programs - in their classrooms if necessary, she said.
Crime prevention should begin before birth with access to quality
prenatal care for all pregnant women, Reno added. A child’s early years
^ are when a sense of right and wrong is developed, and communities must
do what they can to ensure young children get the nurturing they need,
she said.
"What is the good of all the prisons in America if we don’t give our'
children a sense of conscience?" Reno asked. "Government can’t do it all
best. It s a matter of family and values." Reno rejected the notion of
legalizing drugs, but said a good share of prison overcrowding is caused
by the steady parade of drug abusers through the criminal justice system.
Those people, particularly first-time offenders, deserve a shot at treat
ment, even job-training, she said, adding that prison time is too costly for
government and does not touch the cause of the problem.
possible violation of a citizen’s civil rights has been santioned by the
State s chief law enforcement officer, the North Carolina Attorney Gen
eral.
It is our understanding that your department’s Civil Right Division was
established to handle matters such as this, especially when the alleged
violation involves a taking of one’s life. It is uncontroverted that there
were four bullets fired into the back of this 15 year old. We respectfully
request that this entire matter be investigated by the Civil Rights Division
for a determination to be made as to the issues herein raised and the
many other issues that you will find upon your review. We feel a failure
to act would send a chilling message to our community, our state and our
nation that vigilante justice will be sanctioned by our government and
our government officials: We feel this is a dangerous precedent, and it is
at least clearly worthy of your review.
Easley Drops Further
Efforts at Seagroves
Shooting Prosecution
By Estes Thompson
RALEIGH (AP) - The death of a key investigator and doubts about the
state’s main witness mean a case that sparked debate on the legal limits
of using firearms won’t be retried, Attorney General Mike Easley says.
The shortcomings were enough to lead jurors in Michael Seagroves’
first trial to deadlock, and the same was likely to happen if he was retried
on charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon
Easley said. ^ ’
I am convinced that the state cannot obtain a unanimous verdict of
guilty in this case," Easley said at a news conference Tuesday. "We have
seen the case tried. We have heard the evidence presented and we have
observed the demeanor of each of the witnesses. The case cannot be
made any stronger or be tried any better than it was in December." Prose
cutors aigued the evidence showed Seagroves fired even when he knew
the teens were trying to flee and stepped outside his garage to fire.
Seagroves said two of the youths ran immediately from his garage
when he surprised them. The other two began to run, then came back at
him, he said.
What made this case unclear was whether the defendant was firing
shots outside or whether ... he was defending his life and his family,"
Easley said.
As long as he (Seagroves) was in the house or in the garage when he
was doing the shooting, and they were in there when he was doing the
shooting, the jurors accepted that as acceptable conduct and not ex
cessive force." Seagroves, 37, was charged with the March 18, 1993,
shooting of Jamal Elliott, 15, and Clifton Taft Hester. Elliott died from
two of the four wounds in his back and shoulder. Hester was wounded in
the ear and back.
The trial ended in a mistrial Dec. 16 with jurors deadlocked 8-4 in fa
vor of acquitting Seagroves.
Easley and William Thomas of Durham, Seagroves’ attorney, said the
trial did little to define a homeowners’ rights of self-defense.
What the case did show was a different standard of justice exists for
blacks and whites, said Leroy McKenzie, Elliott’s uncle and guardian.
Seagroves is white. The four youths involved in the break-in were black.
"I feel from the very beginning of the trial it wasn’t ever prosecuted :
vigorously," McKenzie said. "They didn’t have their heart in it, I feel it
was a total whitewash." Seagroves’ wife, Meribeth, said she wasn’t sur
prised by the decision because she felt all along her husband was not
guilty.
"I felt there was something wrong when a victimized person was put on
trial. That was a problem in my mind," she said. "You have a right to
defend yourself. It was clear that this was what Mike was doing." She
said her husband was out of town on business and couldn’t be reached
for comment Tuesday.
One of the main reasons for the decision to forego a second trial is that
jurors told prosecutors that they did not believe the prosecution’s main
witness, Hester, Easley said.
Hester testified during the three-week trial that Seagroves fired at him
as he was running away from the house. But during cross-examination by
the defense, Hester appeared cocky and at times was unsure of his ac
count of the shooting,
Hester’s criminal record and the fact that two of the youths had com
mitted more than a dozen burglaries together also hurt his testimony.
Further hampering the prosecution’s case was the death of the first of
ficer on the scene, who was responsible for securing the area where the
incident occurred.
Jurors might have believed that the location of the shell casings from
Seagroves’ gun and other features of the crime scene had been disturbed,
Easley said. That made the testimony of the responding officer more im
portant than it otherwise would have been, he said.
Seagroves was home alone caring for his sick infant son the day of the
break-in. The surviving teens pleaded guilty to the break-in and all but
one received probation, .—
Duke’s President Adopts
Plan For Black Faculty
(AP) - Duke University President
Nan Keohane has approved a plan
adopted by the school’s academic
council to double the number of
black faculty within a decade.
Keohane approved the plan on
Wednesday.
The plan also calls for stepped-up
efforts to retain black faculty, an
intensified effort to recruit black
graduate students, and programs to
encourage black undergraduates to
seek graduate degrees. ,
"This is a thoughtful and achiev
able plan, and I commend the fac
ulty leaders who developed it,"
Keohane said. "The plan has my
enthusiastic endorsement. Increas
ing the numbers of black faculty is
a challenge facing all universities;
it is a challenge we at Duke are
determined to meet. This plan wise
ly focuses not only on recruitment,
but on the need to provide ap
propriate support for all new facul
ty to ensure that they thrive at Duke
personally and professionally."